Playing A Dangerous Game
by Piper Emerald
Summary: When L needs someone to go undercover on a case and keep an eye on his rash successor, Raito jumps at the chance. As Raito and Mello struggle to get to the bottom of a string of mysterious suicides, while L simultaneously works to catch a familiar culprit. As each case progresses, the boys and the detective realize that sometimes romance and danger go hand in hand. (LxLight)
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: If I owned Death Note, all of the yaoi that we know is secretly happening between character would happen on screen/page.**

* * *

Raito took another sip of his coffee, determined to last through the entirety of the meeting. He could feel how heavy his eyelids were becoming, and cursed his usually rigid sleep schedule for the third time that week. Gaging that no one was watching him, Raito took that opportunity to stifle a yawn. Although the NPA's late night meeting times seldom conflicted with school, Raito was ready to complain about it affecting his studying by making him extra drowsy every morning. And by "ready to complain" he meant that he would keep his mouth firmly shut on the matter and pretend it was not affecting him in the slightest.

"Raito-kun, is there anything you would like to add?" The computerized voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"Only that I think we should go over the pervious pattern of killings." Raito had prepared a response incase L decided to single him out.

"And what do you think can be gained from this review?" The gothic letter wondered.

 _He's trying to test me again_ , Raito realized bitterly.

"Humans are creatures of habit," Raito explained smoothly. "Our killer has already proven that he is prone to repeating his actions. It's likely that he'll do so again."

"I see," was all that L said in response.

Five minutes later the meeting had come to it's conclusion, but not without L assigning seemingly pointless tasks to seemingly random officers. Raito knew that by the next day the meaning of each would become clear to everyone. He also knew that L enjoyed to keep them in the dark a little bit. Not bothering to push away his amusement at this, Raito smiled slightly as he packed up his notes.

"Hey, Raito?"

Slightly startled, he looked up to see Matsuda standing in front of the table he was sitting at.

 _Am I sleepy enough that_ he _can sneak up on me?_ Raito mentally berated himself.

"Hello," he said pleasantly, still determined to mask how tired he was.

"I heard that the chief is staying late again tonight, do you need a ride home?" Matsuda asked.

"Sure, that'd be great."

Raito usually didn't say yes when Matsuda offered this, preferring the longer walk and subway ride in silence than a short car ride of the man blabbing on and on. However, right now he could use the extra few minutes even if it meant he would have to suffer through conversation. Not to mention the fact that he was afraid he'd accidentally fall asleep on the subway home. At least if Matsuda drove him he wouldn't have to worry that he'd miss his stop. (Or get kidnapped, raped, and murdered, because, due to his paranoia and knowledge of crime, that possibility had occurred to him.)

"So, he called you out again," Matsuda attempted to make conversation as they walked to the car.

"Yeah," Raito replied shortly.

"I guess that's what happens when you're personally requested to work on the case."

"I wouldn't say that exactly," Raito faked modesty. "I'm lucky that he even let me on to begin with."

This was slightly true. Luck had played it's roll into Raito ending up where he was, but hard work and computer hacking skills had been the more prominent factors.

Raito had heard of the case before he had know that his father was in charge of it. Not that this was much of an achievement, half of Asia and the United States were aware of the general details of the murders. It had started in South Korea, with the deaths of five American tourists. A few weeks later this was connected to the disappearance of five exchange students, all originating from the U.S. Ten more died in Korea before the killer moved on to China, killed another twenty, and made his (or her) way to Japan. It was only after the forty-first killing that L took an interest in the case and contacted the NPA.

Raito followed what he could of the case from a spectator viewpoint, until a cruel version of luck gave him the link to becoming personally involved. The next victim attended Raito's high school. Raito hadn't known the boy very well, but they had shared three classes and Raito remembered having a few conversations with him. Raito had seen this as his way of getting into the investigation, but his father had forbidden it the second that Raito broached the subject. This was a set back that he hadn't expected, but he couldn't blame his father for wanting to keep him away from danger. There were times where he even felt guilty over his course of action after that.

* * *

"If we're going by the pattern, it's possible that he's now in the Kanto region," Raito concluded his latest theory.

It was now about one in the morning. After being dropped off at his house, Raito had rushed to eat a quick meal and see how much of his homework he could complete before the much anticipated call from L. It had become a habit for L to call Raito's computer about an hour after each meeting and proceed to pick the teen's brain of useful ideas he had not voiced in front of the others. L also used this time to brain storm ideas that he was under fifty percent sure on. The detective had noticed early on that Raito and he thought alike, and usually wanted to know Raito's opinion on a lead before taking serious action. That isn't to say that he always agreed with Raito, and a dispute normally resulted in L assuming that he himself was right. However he did listen to everything that Raito brought to the table.

If Raito were being completely honest with himself, he still felt starstruck at the prospect of merely talking to L. The fact that L wanted to talk to him, not to mention valued his opinions over that of the police force, was one of Raito's wildest fantasies come true. As a child Raito had idolized L, and followed what was known of the detective's work with a burning thirst.

"I don't see why you couldn't have stated this earlier tonight," L's computerized voice told him. "It could have saved us valuable time."

"It's only a theory," Raito dismissed. "I wanted to make sure that it made sense before I said it in front of the rest of the task force."

"I'd think that you'd be more afraid to look foolish in front of me than them," L seemed slightly disappointed.

"Not necessarily. You know that the majority of what I come up with is correct, but they don't fully understand that yet," Raito explained. "Besides, I send the task force on one more wild-goose-chase and my father pulls me out of it."

"Fair point," L decided.

"That's why you shouldn't pick on me during meetings," Raito couldn't help but huff.

"I was not picking on you," L replied.

"You were bored and wanted to test me," Raito summed up.

"True," L didn't deny. "But I also knew that you had a good idea somewhere in that head of yours."

"Thanks, I think," Raito muttered.

"You're welcome." L paused before adding: "It was your own fault for yawning."

"You noticed that?" Raito asked sheepishly.

"I notice everything," L said. "I am aloud to be bored because I am the world's greatest detective. The high school student, who is lucky to be working on this case in the first place, is required to at least look interested at all times."

"I didn't yawn because I was bored," Raito muttered. "I yawned because I haven't have a decent night's sleep in weeks."

"I am I keeping Raito-kun for his rest time?" L wondered, with little remorse.

"Yes," Raito affirmed. "But it's not a big deal. I'll probably have to deal with lack of sleep in the future."

"If you join the NPA," L confirmed.

"Which I will," Raito said.

"I'm sure."

"That was doubt wasn't it?" Raito asked, trying to distinguish emotion through the voice disguiser.

"The NPA would only slow someone like you down," L informed him.

"What are you saying," Raito processed this. "I should be like you?"

"You would make a good private detective," L went on. "Should you put the time and determination that I'm sure you would, that is."

"I'm not going to say that the thought never crossed my mind," Raito was admitting before he could stop himself. "But that was back when I was a kid."

Back when he was young and had just realized that he could combine his powerful sense of justice and thirst of intellectual challenge. Back when he had first heard about L, and had aspired to be just like whoever the man behind the letter really was. Back before reality kicked in.

"And since then you've decided that you would rather go into your father's line of work?" L asked.

"It's more practical, isn't it?" Raito defended. "I'll have bills to pay and a family to feed."

"Raito-kun is planning for a family already," L mused. "May I ask who the lucky woman is?"

"This is all hypothetical," Raito said flatly.

"Of course."

"What I mean is that I'm going to have to support myself," Raito explained. "Not just that, I'm going to have to be successful. I don't know any private detectives that make more money than police detectives."

"Are you aware of how much money I make?" If Raito was able to see of properly hear L, he was sure that the man's words would have been laced with smugness, the emotion complete with a matching facial expression.

"No," Raito admitted. "But I don't doubt it's in the millions, if not billions."

"You're correct."

"You realize that I wasn't counting you, right?" Raito said.

"Why?" L wondered. "I am a private detective, and you do know me. I meet both requirements to Raito's estimation."

"You don't count because it's impossible for me to achieve your level of success," Raito flatly elaborated.

"We'll see."

* * *

L knew that he wasn't going to get much else out of Raito on the subject. Yet, when he knew the boy's capabilities, it was hard not to push him away from making a career choice that would waist his talents or, even worse, bore him. Although it wasn't as if L did know Raito's full capacity, the more he spoke with the teen, the more he discovered about the brilliant mind tucked behind the charm and pretty face. This was why L allowed his conversations with Raito to become so off topic. Raito was interesting and L wanted to learn more. This was why L had let him onto the case in the first place.

L had done basic background checks on all of the members of the task force he was working with, therefore he knew of the existence of Raito Yagami. When looking over Deputy Director Yagami's family information, L remembered being vaguely intrigued by the high marks and test scores listed in the son's general profile. However, he had filed away this information as unimportant after finishing the background checks. It was a rare occurrence for L to be wrong about something, but Raito Yagami was definitely a rare circumstance.

Two weeks into his cooperation with the Japanese police, L had been contacted by Raito through his father's computer. Apparently Raito had hacked the device, a feat that L assumed would be rather easy for anyone with Raito's resources and a basic knowledge of computers. Raito had expressed to L that he knew one of the victims and thought that he could be of use in the case. This information was accompanied with a list of Raito's theories and ideas (three of which turned out to be rather useful).

Feeling that there was more to the boy than a keen sense of justice and a desire to help, L continued the communication. It became clear to him early on that Raito was only using his association with the victim as a method to get closer. It was Raito's intrigue and desire for a challenge that drew him to risking contacting L, not his attempt to avenge a deceased friend. L could relate to this. It only took a few more conversations for L to realize that, although Raito was only seventeen, he understood L's thought process far better than the detectives that he had been trying to work with. Inviting Raito to join the task force had been the next logical step.

"How did you do it?" Raito's question broke through L's train of thought.

"Pardon?" He directed his attention back to the computer monitor displaying Raito's face.

"Become the greatest detective in the world," Raito clarified. "How did you do it?"

"That's classified information," L stated.

"Of course it is," Raito must have been anticipating this answer.

L was about to retort, when the screen of his other laptop lit up with a gothic W. He glanced at the time being displayed at the right conner of the computer that L had been talking to Raito with. He hadn't realized how late it was, and knew that Watari would only contact him at this hour if it was an emergency.

"I'm afraid I will have to end this conversation here," L informed Raito. "Get some sleep."

L hung up without giving Raito the chance to respond. He turned his attention to the incoming call.

"What happened?" L skipped the small talk.

"He's escaped."

L didn't need to be told who.

"What?" he knew that his voice filter was not on, and Watari could hear how dark his tone had become.

"I'm forwarding you all the information that the hospital has," Watari continued.

"Thank you."

L ended the call and had the files pulled up in seconds.

"Four other inmates," L mumbled as his eyes trailed over the information. "That's not your style at all. What are you planning?"

* * *

L sighed as he dropped another sugar cube into his tea. Five minutes ago he had given the order for the police to arrest the man behind the tourist and exchange student murders. He knew that he should be relieved to have this case over with, and, in a way, he was. Yet, there was a part of him that would miss how smoothly this investigation went, especially since the other case that he was working on would be grueling and stressful to say the least.

Adding one more sugar cube, L returned his attention to the pile of cases that he was considering taking on. He liked to work on two cases at a time, usually picking one he deemed difficult and one he thought was easy. Watari had supplied him with ten possible cases, and L intended to get back to him on which one he would be choosing within the hour.

He picked up the third file: five suspicious suicides in an English boarding school. After gazing over the details, L put this in his reject pile. He had long ago stopped feeling cruel for denying cases. It was impossible for him to solve every case presented to him, and he could always take comfort in the fact the he had shed light on the more serious ones.

Mysterious suicides were not his top priority.

* * *

"What did you do this time?"

Mello heard the urgent whisper as he rose from his desk, but decided not to answer Linda's question. He didn't owe her an answer. This didn't have to do with the fact that he had no idea what he was currently in trouble for.

It was normal for Mello to be called out of class by Roger. Usually this meant that whatever his latest expression of delinquency was had been discovered. When this was not the case, it was an update on his stance as second highest in the genius orphanage. Occasionally it was a reward for academically displaying a skill set that neither Roger nor Wammy had known that he possessed. Very, very rarely it was about L.

Despite the fact that he was the detective's second successor (close second, mind you), conversations from or about L were not a common occurrence. There were two reasons to this. The first was that both Mello and Near were barely teenagers, and those in charge assumed that they should be given more time to develop before being fully exposed to what would later be expected of them. The other reason was that L was busy.

When Roger used the word "busy," Mello had a strong feeling that it meant "uninterested." Frankly, L found devoting long periods of time to prepare his successors boring. There were times when this angered Mello. He desperately wanted to be acknowledged by L, even if all L did was tell him what he was doing wrong. Mello blamed his need for attention by his almost-mentor on his lack of a parental figure. Despite his issues with suppressing rage, Mello found that he couldn't stay mad at L for long. This wasn't because he respected or cared about the man too much to be upset with him. The truth of it was that Mello didn't know how to hate someone that he did not actually know. He had never met L in person, so, in the end, the man was a stranger to him.

"What did I do?" Mello asked upon entering the office.

Roger's brow furrowed at this, and Mello couldn't help but smirk.

"Mello, please sit down," he instructed.

Mello roughly pulled out the wooden chair in front of the desk. This was a good sign. Roger hadn't asked Mello to sit down for a lecture since Mello was ten. Back then Mello hadn't been very careful when it came to not getting caught. During the lectures, he had liked to steal the pens on Roger's desk when he looked away. Maybe he'd try that today…

"Is this about L?" Mello chanced asking. Usually Near was invited to L related meetings as well, but Mello had the feeling that Roger and Wammy wanted to separate the two of them as much as possible.

"We feel," Roger always used the word 'we' when referring to something involving Mello's status as a successor. "That your at a point in your training where it would be helpful for you to take on small, under cover cases on your own."

"Really?" Mello could hear the excitement in his own voice.

Roger handed him a file.

"Is Near doing this too?" Mello didn't hide how competitive he was.

"Like L, Near has denied this case," Roger admitted.

Mello hesitated. He didn't want L's hand-me-down that Near had passed up. However, he knew that taking on an undercover case would be more fun and interesting than the trouble that he had to cause to keep himself occupied.

"Alright," Mello grinned again, directing his attention to the file.

Five suspicious suicides in a boarding school only a few towns over from the orphanage. Going under cover at a school sounded annoying, but Mello wouldn't have to focus much on the school work or social standings. He'd only bother with those things enough so that he could fit in and investigate without running into problems.

"I'll do it," Mello stated.

This would be entertaining to say the least.

* * *

A glance to Raito's clock told him that he should have been asleep hours ago. At the moment the only excuse he had for staying awake on a Wednesday night was that the case had forced him to become used to being up late. He never thought of himself as the type of person who worked better at night, but if L wanted to talk to him about new evidence or assess old information, it was not Raito's place to argue. Besides, both he and the electronic voice behind the letter discovered far more break throughs when they worked together. Maybe it fed Raito's arrogance to know that he could keep up with the greatest detective in the world, but he never doubted which one of them was superior in intelligence. However, that didn't mean it would always be that way.

Raito had just decided that he would try to get some shut eye before school the next day, when his computer turned itself on. Knowing what this meant, he quickly seated himself at his desk and removed the piece of dark tape that he usually had over the camera for security purposes. Not wanting to turn on the lights in his room, he simply lit his desk lamp. L couldn't exactly complain about not being able to see him clearly, since the only visual Raito was given was a letter on his computer screen.

"Hello, Raito-kun," L greeted him through the filter.

"L," Raito grinned at his computer. "I thought that you declared the case closed and your contact with the NPA finished."

"That is correct." Despite not being able to see L or even knowing what he looked like in the first place, Raito could tell that he was smiling as he spoke. "However, last I checked Raito-kun was not a part of the NPA."

"Fair enough," Raito leaned back in his chair. "This isn't about the case, so what's up?"

"I wanted to thank you for your help in the investigation," L told him. "I doubt that we would have caught him without you."

"I'm sure you would have," Raito appeared to brush of the compliment that he secretly took to heart.

"Yes," L admitted. "Eventually I would have, but having your opinion did speed up the process, therefore saving more lives. You should be proud of yourself."

"I enjoyed the case," Raito responded, then quickly corrected himself. "That is, I enjoyed helping bring about justice."

"Of course."

"And I liked working with you," Raito chanced saying. "I've admired your work for sometime and actually speaking with you is an honor."

"I enjoyed finally being able to work with someone on my level."

"You flatter me," Raito said blandly.

"That was sarcasm?" the computer voice wondered.

"Yes," Raito smiled. "That was sarcasm."

"Despite my desire to collaborate with Raito-kun again," L continued. "You must understand that it would be a danger to both you and myself if I gave you means to contact me."

Raito felt a sharp pang of disappointment at these words.

 _Well what did you think he was going to say?_ Raito chided himself. _He's L, why would he still want the help of a high school student? You're lucky that you even got to talk to him in the first place._

"Of course," he said out loud. "I understand."

"However," L hadn't seemed to notice that Raito had spoken, never mind the down cast tone in his voice. "I will be keeping an eye on you."

"Excuse me?"

"You have great potential, Raito-kun." Despite the filter, Raito swore that he could hear the smile in L's voice. "I'm intrigued to see where your intelligence and tenacity leads you."

"Thank you," Raito wasn't sure what else to say. "But does that mean that you're going to be spying on me?"

"Yes. I've already placed surveillance cameras in your bedroom."

"You're joking, right?" Raito silently prayed, resisting the urge to glance around him cautiously.

"Yes, I am joking," L confirmed. "I won't be spying on you in that sense, not unless you want me to."

"Why would I want you to invade my privacy?" Raito questioned.

"No idea," L most likely shrugged.

"So, on my end at least, this is goodbye," Raito brought the conversation away from that banter.

"No."

"What?" Raito had long ago reasoned that L only gave vague answers such as this because he liked it when Raito was forced to ask for clarification.

"You are going into my field of work, aren't you Raito-kun?" L reminded him.

"I'm going to follow in my father's footsteps," Raito clarified. "But isn't this the first time that you've had to directly work with the NPA."

"If the NPA were sharper I would elicit their help more often," L stated. "In other words, if someone like Raito-kun were on the NPA, maybe I'd be a little more interested."

Raito could not stop the triumphant grin from forming on his face.

"Yet I'm not sure you'll end up with the NPA," L added. "Especially considering that you have the skill to fly solo."

"I told you," Raito could feel the tiniest glimmer of annoyance creep inside of him. "Being a private detective was just a silly dream of mine. I'm setting my goal on joining the police."

"If you say so," L did not sound convinced in the slightest. "Regardless of what path you choose, this will not be the last conversation that the two of us have."

"Good. I'd be sad if it was." Chancing his luck at one more cheeky remark, Raito added: "Be sure to contact me if you ever need my help."

"I intend to," L replied.

"And if I ever need your help?"

"I'll know," he assured him.

"Okay."

"Yes."

"Goodbye, L," Raito couldn't force the forlorn tone from his voice.

"Goodbye, Yagami Raito-kun."

The gothic letter disappeared from Raito's computer screen without another moment's notice. Raito switched off his computer and walked back to his bed. As he lay in the darkness, he didn't feel half as empty as he thought he would.

"I'll talk to you soon, L."

* * *

 **Author's note/explanation: This story is AU, but I'm still going to pull from elements of that cannon at certain points. At the moment, the only thing that I've changed is that Ryuk did not drop his death note (so no Kira) and that L and Raito have met before the story started (which you already know for reading the chap). This is an LxRaito (with additional MelloxMatt) story, but it's also a mystery/suspense fic. My goal is to developed that storyline as much as the romances.**

 **Thanks for reading the first chapter! Opinions? Questions? Predictions? Leave a** **review!**


	2. Chapter Two

_Lowood Institution_ , Mello mused. _What the place lacks in safety, the campus alone makes up for_.

He walked at a brisk pace behind his tour guide, forcing himself to listen to everything that she was saying. Although he had spent the past month studying the case and learning about the school, he knew that it was possible that she could say something useful. Besides, he had to act like he hadn't already memorized the school's layout.

"You're room is in the building to your left," she told him as they walked through an overly green courtyard.

 _That's the west dorm,_ Mello thought. _The previous residence of the second and fifth victims_.

"Okay," he said out loud. "Where was the dining hall again?"

The death tole was currently seven. Two of these taken lives had been added to the grand total since Mello had agreed to the case. Roger and Wammy had wanted him to do more research from the orphanage before getting directly involved. After the death of the second boy, Mello had demanded to transfer to Lowood with the start of the school year.

 _There isn't going to be an eighth_ , he told himself. _If L or Near had taken the case, there probably wouldn't have been a seventh or sixth_.

Mello pushed these thoughts away. The best thing about taking this case was supposed to be that he wouldn't have to deal with Near or their competition for a week or two. Frankly, he wouldn't have to deal with any academic competition here. Before applying he had created fake test scores and grades good enough to get him into the school, but poor enough for him not to stand out. Being seen as exceedingly intelligent was not going to help his cover. He needed to come off as normal as possible, even if this meant sacrificing some of his pride.

Lowood Institution. Mello had never attended a real school in his life, much less an all boys boarding school. This would be interesting to say the least.

 _Seven deaths_ , he mentally rehearsed the details of the case. _Two at the end of the last semester._

Suicide. It didn't seem like an unlikely idea coming from the residence of this school. Sure, the campus was lovely, but Mello had found out early on that the staff where some of the strictest in the area. Not to mention the alleged work load and the fact that 'mommy and daddy' had sent the boys to live far away and practically in the middle of no where.

 _Yeah_ , Mello concluded. _It wouldn't be hard to believe that these kids actually offed themselves._

There first two deaths were certainly the most convincing, aside from the fact that they had happened with in three days of each other. The first boy, Hadley Jenson, had hung himself with a leather belt that his parents had given him for his birthday. Mello didn't doubt that the choice of weapon was still horrifying the couple. Jenson hadn't left a note or any indication as to why he wanted to end it all. His roommate had found him an hour later. Luckily for the school instead of screaming and alerting the entire building, he had gone to his dean first. The less people who knew, the easier it was for the school to keep what had happened from the other students and their parents. Eventually the information was given out, the school portraying Jenson as depressed and saying that many of the students had seen it coming. At the moment, all of the deaths had been made public. The fact that they were all murder was not.

Adam Smith was found dead by a teacher during nightly rounds. Apparently Smith's roommate was pulling an all-nighter at the library and he hadn't expected him to return to the room until the next afternoon. Smith had slit his wrist with a pocket knife. It was later found out that the knife didn't belong to him, despite baring the faded initials A.S. His roommate had explained that the boy hated weapons of any sort and would never own anything remotely violent. This information was only discovered after the third death raised a suspicion. Originally Smith offing himself hadn't incited questions. This was largely due to the fact that the boy had left a note with his death. That is, if the words "There's just no point anymore. I'm sorry. A." scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper counted as a note.

With the third death came the suspicion. This lead to a very secretive amateur investigation (that had been disbanded after "L" took on the case), where unknown prints of a thumb and forefinger where found of the noose he had used to kill himself. The school had so many students, that it was nearly impossible to see if the prints matched one of them That is, until the fourth victim bleed to death while making sure to keep his thumb and forefinger clean for the detectives to test. The rest of the deaths followed the pattern. One boy would hang himself and the next would slit his wrists.

"And here is your room," the tour guide's voice broke through Mello's thoughts.

 _Shit, I zoned out._ He kept his irritation carefully masked.

"Thanks," he told her.

He waited until she was walking away to open the door. The room was small and bare. The only furniture being an inexpensive looking wooden desk and two small beds. Mello's attention was instantly drawn to a redheaded boy unpacking a suitcase.

"Hello," the boy greeted him with a smile. "You must be Michael."

 _Stupid cover name_ , Mello thought bitterly.

"Yeah," Mello held out his hand for the redhead to shake.

"I'm Matt," he introduced himself as he shook Mello's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Mello said politely before throwing his suitcase onto his bed. "Is this your first year here?"

"Yeah," Matt went back to unpacking. "You?"

"Same," Mello told him.

 _Because it would be all too convenient if my roommate was someone who knew one of the victims,_ Mello couldn't help thinking.

"It's my first time attending a boarding school." Matt confessed, brushing a lock of that bright hair away from his eyes. "I've always lived at home."

"Same here," Mello lied. "But as soon as I got into this place my family shipped me off."

"You don't want to be here, do you?" Matt asked, his voice a mixture of concern and amusement.

Mello shrugged, stopping what he was doing and sitting down on his bed. He had been working on his cover story, and was enjoying acting the part.

"I don't know," he pretended to think things over. "I guess it'll be interesting."

"That's what I thought." Matt put down the shirt that he had been folding and sat on his bed, mirroring Mello.

Mello took this opportunity to look over his new roommate. He had initially noticed the bright red hair, mainly because it was impossible not to. Matt was wearing a black and red stripped t-shirt and jeans. Today counted as a weekend, meaning that the students were not required to be in uniform. Matt's clothing choice was rather normal, what struck Mello as odd was the fact that he had a pair of tinted goggles resting on the top of his head.

"Are you planning on going swimming or something?" Mello inquired, gesturing to the goggles.

"No," Matt laughed. "These are prescription. My eyes are sensitive to strong light. It's usually fine as long as I stay indoors, but my doctor said to keep them with me just in case."

"Oh." Mello wasn't sure how else to respond.

"What about you?" Matt asked. "Have any quirks that you want to share?"

"Not really," Mello lied.

"That's good," Matt told him. "I mean, it's good for me at least. I was hoping not the get stuck with a crazy roommate."

"I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch," Mello decided to tell him.

"You're right, I'll wait a day before deciding if you're crazy or not."

"Good plan," Mello said blandly. "I will be doing the same."

"Oh, I can stop you there," Matt grinned. "I'm insane. You might want to request someone else while you still can."

"Really?" Mello smirked. "Or are you just saying that so you get the room to yourself?"

"If I let you in on my plan, then it's not going to work," Matt chuckled.

"There you go," Mello countered. "He's not crazy, he just wants his own room."

"Haha, you caught me," Matt shrugged. "Just don't be surprised when I go loopy."

"I'll be sure to be prepared for being strangled in my sleep," Mello said dryly.

"Naw," Matt grinned. "I'm to shy for that, I'll probably just paint your nails pink of something."

"You have pink nail polish?" Mello gave the kid a doubtful look.

"Yup." The boy beam, then added quickly. "Just for pranks. I don't wear it or anything like that."

"I wasn't judging," Mello laughed.

"So did they give you the tour?" Matt brought the conversation to some form of normalcy.

"Yeah," Mello answered.

"Good, then you can show me where the dining hall is," Matt stood up. "I haven't eaten since I got here."

"Wait," Mello didn't move. "Didn't they give you a tour as well?"

"Yes, but I'm a champion at getting lost." He looked slightly embarrassed when he added: "Also I wasn't really paying attention. Do you know if they're serving food today?"

"Might as well find out," Mello shrugged, standing up.

"Great," Matt beamed.

Mello led the way out of the room.

 _Well, I guess that's one friend._ He tried to look on the bright side of being stuck with the talkative redhead. _The better I am at socializing, the more normal I'll look._

On the way Mello purposely took a wrong turn. He didn't want to seem too familiar with the campus. After all, according to Matt and anyone else, the tour was the first that Mello had heard of any of the locations of the buildings.

"Are we lost?" Matt summoned the courage to ask.

"No," Mello stammered. His expression twisted into one of frustration, before sighing. "Yes."

"Oh."

"I should have printed out a map," Mello pretended to chide himself.

"No, it's fine," Matt assured him. "We'll just retrace our steps and figure out where we went wrong."

"Yeah," Mello tried to sound defeated.

"Really, it's not a problem," Matt assured him.

 _This is more fun than I thought it would be._ Mello silently mused.

* * *

Mello wasn't a morning person, but he couldn't deny the rush of adrenaline that coursed through him on the first day of school. For once this had nothing do you with class work. The academic part of his day was something that he was not looking forward to. He knew that he would have to keep the "I'm not actually a genius" act going if he wanted to be successful in his cover. Yet this meant that he would have to go the majority of the school day without showing off. That definitely took the fun out of learning.

"What classes do you have?" Matt asked him during breakfast (this time they had no trouble finding the dining hall).

"English," Mello said after glancing at the schedule that he had memorized the day before. "What about you?"

"Let me check," Matt fished his out of his pocket. "Physics. Where was the science department again?"

"Here," Mello handed him the map that he had planned to pretend to refer to for the rest of the day. "I think you need this more than I do."

"Thanks," Matt said sheepishly.

"No problem," Mello shrugged. "It's not your fault that this place is a maze."

"A pretty maze," Matt added. "But a very confusing one. I can't believe the websites made it seem so perfect."

"You thought that a school with the same name as the institute from Jane Ere would be perfect?" Mello laughed. Yes, he knew that displaying literary knowledge was showing off a little, but if he had to spend the entire day dealing with people like Matt, he might as well let his roommate know that he was smart.

"Is it really?" Matt reacted more than Mello thought he would. "That's funny."

"Funny because that school is what most kids imagine when they think of hell, or funny because it was all girls and we're all boys?" Smart and witty, he'd stop there.

"Both," Matt answered. "I'm guessing you liked that book."

"It was okay," Mello shrugged. "I prefer harder classics."

He was aware that he was approaching overly-driven-student territory, and would have to watch what he said next. However, Matt didn't seem to find this odd or very impressive.

"I've never been much of an English person," Matt confessed.

 _I figured that much,_ Mello did not say out loud.

"What's your favorite subject, then?" he asked pleasantly.

"Maths," Matt surprised him.

"Oh? What are you taking?"

"A-level calculus."

"What?" Mello's face twisted in astonishment, making him want to slap himself for reacting so much. How was this boy taking such a high class in only his last year of secondary school? He quickly wiped the shock away from his face, not wanting to offend the person that he would be having to deal with for the entirety of his stay at Lowood.

"Yeah," Matt apparently didn't notice. "I know it sounds weird, but I've always liked with working numbers. Numbers and computers, that is, but Lowood doesn't have a tech class."

"You're good with computers?" Mello took this information in.

"Not to brag," Matt smiled. "But I did hack into my old school's website."

"Really?" Mello raised an eyebrow, currently in control of his reactions.

"Well, it's not that impressive, considering they didn't have the best system. But they used the site to tell students their homework and announcements. I was able to delete all of the assignments for the entire secondary school."

"Did you get caught?" Mello asked.

"No," Matt said pridefully. "They got rid of the bug, but they couldn't trace it back to me."

Maybe Matt was smarter than Mello had originally thought, he could work with that.

"I just remembered I told my mom I'd call her this morning," Mello lied, standing up. "I'll be just a second. Can you watch my stuff?"

"Okay," Matt nodded.

Mello was able to subtly glanced at Matt's schedule, which the boy had left on the table. He briskly walked out of the dining hall and into the hallway, making sure that it was empty before pulling out his phone.

"Roger," Mello said urgently as soon as the man picked up. "I need you to call the school and get me into period five A-level calculus right now."

"Mello, I thought that you had said—"

"I changed my mind," Mello interrupted. "I'm following a lead. I don't care what you tell the school, but I need this fixed with in the next hour. Have them email me my new schedule."

Mello didn't wait for another response before hanging up. Yes, scouting Matt out wasn't exactly case related. But, if the boy turned out to be as smart as he just said he was, Mello could definitely use that to his advantage. In order to gage Matt's intelligence, Mello needed to observe him in a work environment. If it turned out that Matt wasn't what he seemed, at least Mello would get to enjoy being in the advanced class.

* * *

Mello was emailed his new schedule an hour later. He was pleased that he was now in Matt's maths class, and slightly annoyed when his original elective was dropped and replaced by an art class. Art had never been something that he had waisted his time with. He left the job of painting and sketching to Linda, and refrained from mentioning to her how pointless he deemed her hobby.

"Hey, you didn't say you were in this class too?" Matt exclaimed when Mello sat down at the desk next to his.

"I didn't?" Mello feigned a perplexed expression, he quickly redirected the conversation. "That's probably because I was too busy being impressed with your hacking story."

"Thanks," Matt laughed modestly. "So you're a maths and an English person?"

"I guess," Mello shrugged. "Maybe I'm just a nerd."

"At least you can admit it," Matt smiled.

Class started before the two could make more conversation, and the entire class quickly learned that Ms. Seto, their teacher, did not tolerate talking out of turn. Out of all the teacher Mello had thus far, Ms. Seto stood out the most. She was about average hight with long black hair and expected the class to be paying attention to ever word that she said. That part wasn't odd, considering it was an A level class. As her last name suggested, Mello could tell that she was Japanese. What made her the most memorable was her sharp American accent. He assumed that she originated from Japan and must have learned English from an American. However, he found it odd that the school hired teachers from either countries.

His teacher's strictness was something that Mello did not mind. It wasn't Matt's thought's he was trying to access, it was how he answered each equation that they were given. Every so often he would sneak a glance at Matt's paper, making sure not to be caught looking by either Matt or their teacher. By the end of the class he knew everything that he needed to. Matt was far from 'all talk and no talent', for he came to the correct answer for some of the problems faster than Mello was able to himself.

"I think I'm curse with always having teachers that I hate for subjects that I love," Matt informed Mello as they left the classroom, heading for lunch.

"She didn't seem that bad," Mello gave his opinion.

"Military strictness freaks me out," Matt confessed. "I feel like I make one mistake and she's going to start yelling at me or something."

"We should have sat in the back of the classroom," Mello said to this.

"I'll make sure to do that next time," Matt agreed.

"Hey, can I ask you a weird question?" Mello approached the subject with slight apprehension.

"Sure," Matt said slowly. "But if you're about to confess a deep, dark secret, remember that we've only known each other for a day and a half."

"No, it's not something like that," Mello added an uncomfortable laugh to his nervous facade.

"And, if you prove to be insane, I will take it as an opportunity to complain and get a new room," Matt added.

"I'm being serious," Mello crossed his arms.

"Sorry," Matt's laughter died. "Go on."

"It's just…" Mello let his voice trail off. "Did you hear about the suicides? The ones that have been happening here."

Matt stopped walking.

"Yeah," his voice was neutral, but his body language was tense. "What about them?"

"Doesn't it make you kind of uneasy to be staying here?" Mello asked.

"I guess," Matt's eyes were on the ground in front of him. "But they were suicides, not…you know."

"Seven people died," Mello pressed.

"It's a big school," Matt pointed out.

"Seven people in the past few months," Mello corrected.

"What are you getting at?" Matt's voice was wary.

"Doesn't that make you a little suspicious?" Mello asked.

Matt turned on his heels.

"Are you messing with me, or do you really believe this?" his eyes held Mello's with a death grip.

"I wouldn't joke about something so serious," Mello said, for once telling the truth.

"Good," Matt didn't break the eye contact, but lessened it's intensity. "Because that is exactly what I was thinking."

"You've been thinking about it?" Mello hadn't expected this, but he supposed it was only natural for some of the students to notice.

"Yeah."

"I know it sounds kind of crazy," Mello started. "But I want to find out what happened."

"You're right," Matt told him sharply. "It does sound crazy."

"Well, don't you?" Mello asked defensively. "Wouldn't you feel a lot better knowing that you were doing something to stop it from happening again?"

"You're saying that you want to catch the alleged killer?" Matt asked in a appalled voice.

"Yes," Mello admitted.

"You're insane," Matt looked slightly horrified. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be?"

"Of course I do!" Mello pretended to snap, then abruptly looked away. "Never mind. You're right, I'm crazy. Forget I brought it up. I'll see you later."

With that he walked away.

Mello had anticipated a reaction like this, but had a theory that Matt would come around with some time. He was more than surprised later that night, when he realized that "some time" actually meant a few short hours. After the school day had finished, Mello had made it back to their room first. He decided to do some homework before once again going over the case details. While he was doing his first assignment, Matt entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"I'm in," Matt stated.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Matt forced a laugh through his serious expression. It sounded dry. "Why not?"

* * *

Raito preferred to study in his bedroom. There was less noise to distract him, and the space provided the isolation that he required to finish the amount of work that he usually had to the best of his abilities. However, lately he was finding it hard for him to get into the zone while being in complete privacy. Originally Raito had dismissed his lack of focus as difficulty adjusting after a summer break spent entertaining himself with information that he found interesting. It was only after a week of enduring the intangible distraction that he realized what the problem really was.

It had been over a month since the wrap up of the case that he had help with. Raito hadn't been contacted by L in over a month, and this was beginning to bother him. He wasn't sure what he had expected, if anything L had indicated that it would be sometime until they talked again. Originally he hadn't even thought L would ever contact him again. Maybe it was the dim hope that L's final words had left him with that left him expecting something. Raito didn't really know, but found that he would rather push the problem from his mind than spend hours dwelling on something that he could not change.

Therefore, to distract from future dwelling, he had decided to finish his homework at the dining room table. He was usually done before his mother had dinner ready, so there was never the problem of his books being in the way. The catch to this plan, was that Raito was victim to hearing all of the distractions that his family could cause throughout the house. This wouldn't be so bad if he was completely indifferent, but the majority of the time Raito wanted to know what his mother or sister was doing that could be so loud. Sometimes this was out of irritation, but for the most part it was only intrigue. So, when he heard the front door slam harshly and quick angry footsteps ascending the stairs, it was hard to stop his curiosity from following.

"Sayu? Is something wrong?" He asked after knocking gently on the door of her room.

"I don't want to talk about it," he heard her muffled voice exclaim.

Sighing, Raito opened the door.

"I said I didn't want to talk." Sayu sat in the middle of her bed with red and puffy eyes, her arms and torso engulfing her pillow.

"I'm supposed to take that as a 'come in brother, I'd love to tell you what's bothering me,' " he told her. "It's in my job description."

Sayu rolled her eyes. Raito closed the door and walked to the bed, he sat down next to her.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Why are you crying?" he tried.

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are," he argued.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Talk anyway," he told her.

"You won't understand," she huffed.

Now he was getting somewhere.

"Why wouldn't I understand?" he asked. "Was it something at school?"

"This girl keeps teasing me," Sayu finally admitted.

"What is she teasing you about?"

"Everything!" Sayu was angry now. "It's not just her, it's her whole group. Every few weeks they find someone who they think they're better than and make that person's life miserable."

"Did they do something today?" Raito knew what the answer to this was, but needed her to elaborate on the obvious.

"She saw my score on the maths test we took yesterday," Sayu recounted. "I studied all last night for it, and finally got a good grade."

"Good for you." Ratio couldn't help being a little proud of this, after all he had helped her study that night.

"I was really happy, until she saw my grade. Apparently my score was higher than her's. She nearly threw a tantrum. She kept asking people how it was possible for someone who's 'mentally challenged' to do better than her." Sayu's voice broke in anger. "I'm not good at math, but I'm not an idiot."

"Of course you're not," Raito could feel his own anger burring inside of him to know that someone had told her otherwise. "Did you tell your teacher what she said?"

"Teachers can't help with this kind of stuff," she dismissed. "If I told them it would only make things worse. I wouldn't feel this bad about what happened if someone had stuck up for me, but everyone in the class pretended not to notice. It was like they agreed with what she was saying."

"Is there anything I can do?" Raito tried.

"No."

"Do you still think I don't understand?" he didn't really want to know the answer for this, but it would be better that she said it.

"How could you?" she didn't say this bitterly, but Ratio sensed some distain. "You're Mr. Perfect. You've always been the smartest guy in your class, and everyone who meets you loves you."

"I think you're giving me more credit than I deserve," he shrugged off her accusing tone. "The fact that people generally like me doesn't mean that I have friends at school."

"What about those guys you walk home with?" Sayu asked. "They're your friends, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Raito shrugged. "But we only walk together because our houses are near each other's. It's not like I sit with them at lunch or anything. Well, I don't really sit with anyone at lunch."

"Yeah, but that's because you're always studying," Sayu pointed out.

"You could say that," Raito admitted. "Half of the reason I eat alone is because I'm driven and want to get my work done, but the other half is because I don't have anyone to talk to."

Sayu didn't say anything.

"Look," Raito collected his thoughts. "I'm not saying that your classmates were right to stay silent, but I doubt that this means they think you're dumb. If I were in that situation, I doubt anyone would have defended me either."

"You're top of your class, no one's going to call you stupid." Sayu was smiling now, and Ratio inwardly sighed in relief.

"Okay, maybe not that situation exactly," he amended. "But something like that."

"I know what you mean," she told him. "Thanks."

"If you want I can get Dad to call your principle," Raito suggested. "The school loves our family, so I'm sure they'd take your side."

"That's okay," she decided. "You know, it kind of makes sense that you're not popular."

"Should I be offended?"

"If you were you'd have a girlfriend by now," Sayu explained. "It's weird that someone as handsome and nice as you doesn't have one."

"Oh. Thanks…?"

"Although," she drew the word out. "I figured that the reason you didn't was because you're secretly gay."

"I think I'm going to leave now," he stood up.

Sayu giggled.

"Just know I love you no matter what you identify as," she called after him as he left the room.

"Well, she bounces back fast," he muttered to himself.

* * *

 **Thank you to Wizard-Party-Forever and Cinemas for reviewing!**

 **Each time I write for Sayu she's little bit different. I feel like she was more savvy in my last fic with her, but that might just be me judging my writing. What do you guys think?**

 **There was a lot of Mello this chapter, but in the future it will be more balanced between him and Raito narrating.** **Case number one has been explained, any predictions? Questions? Comment? Concerns? You guys know where I'm going with this: please review!**


	3. Chapter Three

L intently watched the security footage of the robbery, his eyes not blinking. The thin man pointed a gun with a shaky hand at the man standing at the counter. There wasn't any audio, but it was clear that the thin man was demanding money. L zoomed in on the thin man's face, then even tighter. He watched the haze over those blue eyes become thicker and thicker. Zooming out again, he observed the way the thin man's hand quivered as he pointed the gun. L knew that he was not going to shoot, he knew that the gun was not even loaded. Yet, if the man had fired. L doubted that he would be able to hit what he had been aiming for.

L watched as the police arrived. The thin man directed the gun to the two officers. He staggered towards them. The second officer shot before the thin man could.

Only later was it made clear to the police that the thin man's gun was not loaded. L wondered what the officer must have thought. L doubted that the bullet was meant to kill the man, and chose to assume that the officer had poor aim. It wasn't his job to worry about what happened to this man now. This incident opened the door to far more pressing matters.

"And you're sure that it's him?" L directed the question to the laptop that he was currently communicating with Watari on.

"The DNA is a match," Watari informed him.

"He wasn't very intelligent," L thought out loud. "None of were intelligent enough to get out alone."

"They had help," Watari reminded him.

"Exactly," L pounced on the subject. "He helped them, but how were they any help to him?"

L knew Watari didn't have an answer for this. He couldn't answer it himself. Not yet at least.

* * *

The first week of classes had gone by, and Mello was painfully aware of the fact that he stuck out like a sore thumb. He had never been a people person, and hadn't seen the point of making friends in the orphanage. Occasionally he talked to Linda, who he realized was the only one of the other orphans who was not afraid of him. Befriending Matt hadn't been very hard, but that was partly because there was an effort made on both sides. Although Mello and Matt we're the only new students, it was clear that the majority of their peers had attended the school for a few years and already had groups set up.

"We're becoming loners," Mello stated.

His eyes didn't leave the English homework he was trying to push through to say this. After receiving no response, he looked over to where Matt was lying on his bed. Matt was on his stomach, his DS was in front of him and his dark blue headphones covered his ears (and accented his hair oddly). Over the past few days, Mello had observed that whenever Matt was not working on homework of trying to help Mello think up clues or leads, the redhead was absorbed in a video game.

"Earth to Matt," Mello said loudly. "Do you read me?"

Matt glanced up.

"I can't hear you," he loudly informed him without removing the headphones.

Mello rolled his eyes, walked over to him, and pulled the headphones over his neck (where the goggles were currently resting).

"What?" Matt looked annoyed, but Mello didn't appreciate that the game was given more attention than he was.

"We're becoming loners," he repeated.

It took a second for Matt to process the relevance of this.

"Wouldn't that only work if we were alone?" he asked. "If we didn't hang out together."

Matt had a point, but Mello knew that his was better.

"It doesn't matter," Mello brushed him off. "What I'm saying is that we don't have a group."

"You never struck me as the sort of person who would care about being popular," Matt told him dryly.

"What I'm getting at, is that most of the victims didn't have a lot of friends either," Mello continued. "There's no point in solving the case if we both become targets in the process."

"I can get us a group," Matt decided, not needing to say that he knew he had better social skills than the blond. "Or at least make it look like we have one."

"You do that," Mello agreed.

He knew that Matt was far more friendly than he was, and that the majority of people the red head talked to liked him.

"By the way," Mello brought the conversation back to being directly on the case. "Did Jenson's parents get back to you?"

"Yes, but they didn't answer most of the questions." Matt took out his laptop and pulled up an email. A few days prior Mello had asked him to see what families of the victims he could contact. So far few had wanted to answer personal questions, but most were willing to say some things. "I might have lied about not knowing him."

"Didn't you say that to all of the parents," Mello dismissed.

"Yeah, but I still sort of feel bad," Matt admitted.

"Don't," Mello told him. "You're doing what you have to in order to stop whoever killed their kids. They'll be grateful in the end."

"Yeah," Matt shrugged him off and looked back at his game.

Mello's determination was only slightly hindered by the fact that they had gotten practically nowhere. While Matt contacted the families, Mello had been sneaking into the former rooms of the victims while their current occupants were in class. This had not shed any light, but at least had given him a better idea of the format of each room. He also had access to police pictures of evidence. Aside from noticing that Smith's initials were written vertically instead of horizontally on the pocket knife used to slit his wrists, this gave Mello no new information.

 _We've only been doing this for a week,_ he mentally reminded himself. He knew he was being impatient, but it was nearly impossible not to be. There was a strong possibility that the killer was on campus that very moment. However, given how spread out the deaths were so far, he doubted that there would be another anytime soon.

* * *

Mello stared at the email that had just been forwarded to him. Another boy had been murdered. Mello hadn't been able to do anything to prevent this. Hell, he wasn't any closer to tracking down the killer than he had been since he got to the school. Anger was rising inside of him. Anger that he hadn't done anything. Anger that he didn't know when he would be able to do anything. Anger that he had to read the email that the police had sent "L" to find out that the eight victim had been killed in the first place.

"I'm going to the crime scene," he said to Matt after explaining what had happened.

"Isn't that off limits?" Matt wondered.

"The room is blocked off, but no one is monitoring it."

The email had stated this incase L's undercover agent wanted to have a look at the scene. It had been made clear to both the school and the police that Mello's identity would not be told to them. However, it was helpful for them to know that he existed.

"Do you want me to stand guard outside while you investigate?" Matt asked.

"No," Mello decided after mulling the question over. "I work better when I talk out loud. Besides, you might catch something I don't."

"Okay. Are we going now?"

"Yeah," Mello decided.

He was glad that Matt didn't object to him taking the lead on this, despite the fact that he hadn't made it clear to Matt that the only reason he had brought him onto the case was because he knew he may need an assistant. Mello hadn't yet felt like this was cheating, since L had far more resources at his disposal than Mello was aloud for this case. He couldn't even change his school schedule without contacting Roger.

They didn't run into any students or faculty on the way to the dead student's room. Once inside, they didn't feel the need to lock the door. If they got caught they could either say that they were friends of the boy and wanted to say a few words to him in the place that he had "taken his life," or that they had a morbid fascination. Matt had opted for the first one, feeling that it would get them into less trouble. Mello would still probably use the second, purely because he'd find the teacher's (and Matt's) reaction to this more amusing.

The body was gone, replaced by a tape outline. There was a reddish-brown stain in the middle of the floor, engulfing half of the chalked body. The boy's wrists had been slit, according to the pattern.

"Did he leave a note?" Matt asked.

"I don't think so," Mello answered, looking over the room. He walked to the window. "This is the third floor."

"So the killer couldn't have gotten in through there?" Matt asked.

"Unless he was spiderman," Mello quipped.

"It sort of reminds me of the second episode of Sherlock," Matt couldn't stop himself from pointing out.

"Great," Mello said dryly. "Let me know when Cumberbatch shows up, other wise I'm going to look for clues."

"Got it, boss," Matt rolled his eyes.

"He'd have to had used the front door," Mello turned away from the window, ignoring Matt's remark. "Even though it was locked."

"It's not that hard to get someone's room key, or even pick the lock," Matt pointed out.

"Not the mention the office has copies of every key," Mello added. "But how he got in isn't the issue."

"No, the issue is who he is in the first place," Matt concluded.

"Yeah," Mello agreed. "Did we ever talk about motives?"

"No, but I can't think of any," Matt answered.

"Neither can I," Mello said. "And I've thought about it a lot."

They spent the next twenty minutes looking for evidence, but came out empty handed.

"Remember when you said you were a genius hacker?" Mello asked as they left the room.

"I don't remember using those words," Matt muttered.

"Do you think that you can get into the computers of faculty members that were either new last year or hired for this semester?" Mello asked.

"I'd need a list," Matt didn't deny that he could accomplish this task.

"I'll get it to you as soon as we get back to our room." Mello had a list of new students as well as faculty.

"You think a teacher did it?" Matt asked.

"We have no leads," Mello said through gritted teeth. "Maybe they got a key from the office."

"It would be easier for them to get one than for a student to," Matt agreed.

"I need to follow something," Mello sighed. "Before someone else gets hurt."

"This isn't your fault," Matt tried to look him in the eyes, but Mello avoided his gaze. "You're doing more than anyone else is to help."

"Not enough," Mello said more to himself than to Matt.

* * *

L was angry.

No, he was furious.

No, he was outraged.

Although there were serval different ways that L could be contacted by various police departments while working on a case, he was accustomed to alternating between the most convenient. This, as well as the fact that any information involving "L" would surely make it's way back to himself, should have been known to the select few that he trusted with his personal information. He wasn't sure if he was more upset that information had been kept from him or that Watari and Roger had done such a sloppy job covering this up.

L was very clear on the fact that he had not accepted the Lowood Institute suicides case. Due to this fact, he had been surprised to find an email as well as a few files sent to one of his secure alias accounts. The email included details on the Lowood case. Whomever had written it seemed to be under the impression that, not only had L accepted the case, but he had someone working undercover at the school. It took L seconds to realize what was really going on. Watari and Roger were using this as a test for one of his successors.

What enraged L was the fact that he had made it clear to the both of them that he did not want either of the boys to be exposed to such danger until they were older. No matter how bright they were, they were still both children. When it was time for one of them to take up his mantle, he had hoped to eliminate the possibility of either of them inheriting the habits that he had gained from starting at the young age he had.

Despite not being the older of the pair, L would have been slightly less uneasy if hew knew that it was Near who had taken on the case. However, knowing the puzzle loving boy, it was likely that Near had denied this opportunity. Like L, he would have passed the case off as tedious or dull. Mello, however, would have been excited at the chance to prove himself and get out of the orphanage for a month or so. Although Watari apparently thought otherwise, L knew that Mello was far from ready for this task. Mello was rash. It was true that this was a quality that L liked about him, but it was something he had been hoping the boy would be able to have more control over as he matured.

While Near kept his emotions at arms length and rarely displayed them, Mello was practically ruled by what his heart told him was right. This coupled with Mello's difficultly to over come his anger when upset was what worried L most of all. It was likely that, in a whirlwind of emotion, Mello would over look a crucial fact and endanger his own life.

L considered calling Watari that very moment and ordering that Mello be dismissed from the case and L himself solve it. Two things stopped him from going through with this. The first reason was that Mello was the third most stubborn person that L knew (the first being himself and the second being Raito Yagami). Mello would not back down without a fight, especially if he had been working on the case for sometime. L didn't doubt that Mello now felt that it was is job to catch the killer and save the potential victims. The second reason was slightly more selfish. L wanted the case solved before anyone else got hurt.

Officially L had accepted the case, and that meant that it was going to be solved. However, the case that L was currently focusing on was not only taking all of his time, but required him to be in the same area that he presumed his suspect was. In order for him to catch the Lowood murderer, it would help for him to have access to the campus, students, and faculty. When he compared the two cases, the one he was working on at the moment was far more imperative. He knew he could contact Mello and make the boy share the information that he had uncovered. This way L would be able to point the boy in the right direction, while making sure that Mello had his emotions in check.

Yet, although after this secret had been kept from him he didn't feel he had anything to prove to the man that he had raised him, he did not want Watari to know that his attention was not solely on his other case. Although it was common for him to solve two cases at once, the Lowood suicides were amounting into something bigger than L had originally assumed they would be. L knew that he could solve both cases, had he the right resources. Still, he didn't want it to look like he was distracted from what was the most important.

Therefore, L needed someone on the inside that he could trust to observe and report every detail. This person would be his eyes as he solved the case, and could help him watch out for Mello as well. Given the skill level and cover he would need for his inside man, there really was only one possibility.

He supposed he could spare a day or two to stop by Japan…

* * *

Raito was reading at his desk when his computer turned itself on. During the NPA investigation, he had learned not to be startled by this, but this time he had nearly jumped out of his chair. Excitement coursed through him when the gothic L appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Raito-kun," the electronic voice said.

"Hello, L," Raito face molded into an expression of complete joy. God, how he had missed this! "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I have a situation," L stated.

"Really?" Raito raised an eyebrow.

 _Say it_ , he determinedly thought.

"I need your help."

 _There we go._

"Okay," Raito beamed. "What's the problem."

There was a short beat of silence.

"I would need to discuss it with you in person."

"What?" Raito knew that he was gaping, but couldn't control it. "But you're…you!"

"Yes, and I don't intend to fully expose my identity to you, Raito-kun," L admitted. "However, I do not feel comfortable explaining what I need from you through this method of communication. Are you familiar with the Teito Hotel?"

"Yes," Raito said slowly.

"Can you come to room 122 in exactly an hour and a half?"

"Yes," Raito answered.

"Good," L seemed to find this acceptable. "Please tell no one that I requested to meet with you."

"Is it that confidential?" Raito needed to ask something before L ended the conversation.

"Yes."

"How do I know this isn't some sort of trap?" Raito shuddered at the thought that it wasn't really L that he was talking to, but some sort of impersonator who had found out about Raito's connection to the detective.

"If you don't trust me, then don't come," L said curtly.

"That's not what I meant," Raito interjected.

"Regardless, please do not think of this as an order. I would like your assistance on something, but you have more than the right to refuse. Just—please—give it some thought."

L hung up before Raito could get another word out.

Raito knew that if he left his house at that moment, he would arrive at the hotel with enough time to deliberate backing out. L hadn't said anything to dissuade Raito from thinking that he was being contacted by an impersonator. Yet, Raito knew that there was only a slim chance of this. Was working with L again worth taking that chance?

"Yes," Raito answered out loud.

He quickly scribbled a note to leave on his desk incase either his parents or Sayu came into his room while he was out. Him disappearing in the middle of the night would definitely be something that would worry them. After changing out of his pajamas and into a collared shirt and jeans, Raito left his house to see what it was that L wanted from him.

Upon arriving at the hotel, he waited in the lobby until the precise time that L wanted him at the room. He could feel his nerves start to tighten as he stepped out of the elevator and into the first floor. He checked his watch before knocking on the door of L's room.

Right on time.

He knocked twice and waited. L didn't open the door. Instead of knocking again, Raito tried the door handle. The door was not locked. Cautiously, he opened the door and stepped into the room. His eyes scanned his surroundings, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the slightest.

"Please close and lock the door."

The voice startled Raito, making him jump back slightly. It wasn't the electronic voice that L usually communicated with him through. This was a real human voice. What caught Raito off guard was not that L had apparently decided to reveal this to him. What surprised him was the fact that there was no one else in the room.

"Raito, I can not give you any information until you close the door." The tone of the voice was now annoyed. This time Raito's eyes followed where it was coming from. There was a device that resembled a walkie-talkie sitting on the coffee table in the middle of the room.

"Sorry," he mumbled, turning around to close and lock the door.

"Thank you."

Raito sat down on one of the cushioned chairs in front of the table.

"So this is what you meant by 'in person'," he remarked.

"I apologize, but I do not reveal my identity to anyone," L didn't sound apologetic in the slightest. "However, the reason that I am letting you hear my voice is because I want you to know that I trust you and hope that you can trust me as well."

Raito nodded, then felt rather foolish for doing so.

"You have cameras in here, right?" Raito knew that L must have, since he had known that Raito hadn't closed the door an minute prior.

"Yes, I can see you."

L's voice was different than Raito had imagined it being. He had always thought that it would be hard and rigid, leaving little of the emotion L wanted to convey unclear. However, the voice that Raito was listening to now was airy. L drawled most of his words, talking at a slower pace than Raito did himself. Some would think that this meant that he was bored with each subject he spoke about, but Raito knew better. Although he doubted that he would ever admit this to anyone, Raito liked listening to L speak. Hearing the music of the syllables he pronounced was almost as thrilling as the words that he was saying.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Raito crossed his arms comfortably as he spoke. "I'm guessing that it's top secret."

"Yes," L agreed. "I have a job for you."

"Another case?" Raito didn't attempt to hide the excitement from his eyes and body language.

"Yes," L confirmed. "One that I am personally involved with and can only entrust to someone I know is capable. Are you interested?"

"Do I look interested?" Raito laughed.

"You do," L sounded amused. "I'll tell you the details."

L went on to explain to Raito the murders disguised as suicides and how his successor had been sent to solve the case. Raito listened with few interruptions, wanting to be as clear on what he would have to do as possible. When L finished talking, Raito decided it was the right time for him to ask questions.

"You want me to go to England?" was the first one that he blurted.

"Yes," L said. "I can arrange for it to look like the school has granted you a full scholarship. In reality I will be paying for your tuition, but I'm sure that the scholarship will convince your family that you have to go. Aside from the killings, it is as good of a school as the one you are currently enrolled in."

"I won't mention the murder bit to my father," Raito told L. "Or anyone for that matter. And, yes, I'm sure my parents will let me go."

"You are fluent in English, correct?" L asked.

"Yes, I've been studying the language for years," Raito didn't mind bragging.

"That will be helpful," L said. "But you'll need to make a few mistakes here and there, since everyone will know that you are an exchange student."

"I'll be as convincing as I can," Raito assured him. "On the subject of your successor, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Befriend him," L started with. "Do your best to keep him out of danger, or at least inform me if you believe that he is unsafe."

"Alright," Raito nodded.

"I will be sending you more information," L let him know. "But be ready to leave the country in a week."

"That soon?" This caught Raito slightly off guard. "Well, I supposed that's best. The sooner I get there the sooner I can start. My family will definitely be surprised when I announce that I'm moving to a boarding school located in the a part of England no one has ever heard of."

"I'll send the scholarship notification to both you and your father tonight," L decided. "That gives you the remainder of the night to think up all of the reasons why you would want to take advantage of the opportunity."

"Sounds good," Raito said.

"Thank you for doing this." The sincerity in L's voice surprised Ratio.

"Thank you for coming to me," Raito meant these words.

"Who else would I have come to?" It was unclear is L was asking Raito this or wondering it himself.

"I don't know," Raito mumbled.

"That was everything that I needed to discuss with you tonight," L's end of the conversation was rather abrupt, but Raito was used to this from him. "I think that it's time that you returned home. It is getting late."

"It was already late when I got here," Raito pointed out, but stood. "I'll be awaiting your further instructions."

"Yes."

Raito left the hotel, running through the conversation in his head as he made his way home. Part of him could not believe what was happening, and was barely able to stop himself from jumping for joy The other part of him couldn't help but be a little anxious at what he was getting himself into.

 _No matter what happens, it's going to be better than spending the rest of the school year boring myself to death._ He reminded himself.

No matter what happened, as long as he was in contact with L he was definitely not going to be bored.

* * *

 **Sending imaginary Mello chocolate to Kiii and SadlyNotLawliet for their reviews!**


	4. Chapter Four

Both of Raito's parents and Sayu had insisted on driving Raito to the airport and seeing him to his plane. He hadn't protested this, because he wasn't sure when the next time he would see the three of them would be. Sayu chattered the entire time, but Raito didn't mind listening to her babble.

"Yes, I'll make sure to call you everyday," he told her for the third time. "Just know that for every update I give you on my life, I expect on in return."

"I guess that's fair," she let out a fake and over dramatic sigh. "But you better tell me if you meet someone."

"I'm going to an all boys school," he reminded her, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"I know," she winked at him.

He rolled his eyes, after making sure that neither of his parents had noticed their exchange. Luckily they were to focused on their own conversation. Both of them had been surprised with how determined he was to study abroad and leave with only a weeks notice. His mother and Sayu had helped him pack, this processed had gone by not without some tears from both of them. His father hadn't said much on the subject. He had allowed Raito to go, saying that it was Raito's choice and not his. Raito burned to tell him what was really going on. That L had specifically requested that Raito work with him again. He knew that his father would view this as dangerous and be worried, but he also knew that he would be proud of Raito.

"Then you'll have to tell me if _you_ get a boyfriend," Raito pulled out of this thoughts to tease Sayu.

"Yeah right," she giggled. "I think you'd have to come back if that happens. It would give Dad a heart attack."

"You're right," Raito joked. "Better you don't date anyone until your at least my age."

"True, but," she leaned in to whisper to him. "I think it would give Dad an even worse heart attack if _you_ got a boyfriend."

"Then it's a good thing I won't," he told her seriously. Then added: "And no heart attack it a pleasant heart attack."

"Whatever," she pouted. "Just you wait. You'll meet a super gorgeous English guy and fall head over heels for him."

"When exactly did you decide that I was gay?" he asked, partly out of exasperation and partly out of curiosity.

"When you decided to never leave the closet," she shrugged. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Won't tell anyone what?" Their mother raised an eyebrow, thankfully only hearing that much of the conversation.

"That Raito's only going to an English school so that he'll have been top student in two countries," Sayu didn't miss a beat.

 _Wow_ , Raito thought. _That was a smooth lie. Maybe she_ does _take after me after all_.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, going along with her cover. "You only make fun because you know I can do it."

They continued to joke around until it was time for Raito to board his plane. Sayu kept a smile on her face the entire time, but when he hugged his mother he noticed the unshed tears in her eyes. His father kept his usual serious expression. This was a relief to Raito.

As the plane took off, he didn't stop himself from sentimentally gazing out of the window. He watched his home become smaller and smaller in the distance. Once the view was gone he decided to take a nap. L had brought him a first class ticket, so he comfortably drifted off wondering how he was going to approach L's apparently 'rash and difficult to reason with' successor. L had pulled a few strings to give Raito one class with the boy. He would have to take this as his way in.

* * *

Mello was only taking art because he'd had to scramble his schedule to get into Matt's Calculus class. This is what he told himself every time that walked into the building. That and the fact that he was _not_ actually enjoying himself. He was indifferent. He was just a very focused indifferent.

The focus part he did have an excuse for. Since the first day no one in his art class had spoken a word to him. He blamed this on the fact that it was an integrated class and none of his classmates were in the same grade as him. However, to make the fact that he sat alone in the back of the class seem a little less antisocial, Mello pretended that he was very focused on his art work. Which, if he wanted to brag, was turning out pretty damn good. The style of art that the class would learn about an emulate rotated every three weeks. It being the fifth week of school, they were currently in the middle of their third unit: sketch.

Mello was enjoying this more than water color, and hadn't glanced up from his drawing since class had started three minutes ago. Their teacher usually began each class with a short lecture, which Mello usually drew through without paying much attention. Today, however, he started the period by introducing a new student. It was only in the middle of this announcement that Mello brought his eyes away from what he was working on.

The boy standing awkwardly at the front of the class looked a few years older than Mello. He immediately identified his nationality as Japanese. This wasn't very surprising, there were a few students from foreign countries at the school, but Mello had yet to talk to any of them. The boy was slender and probably at least three inches taller than himself. Neutrally, Mello observed that he was good looking. The honey brown hair that fell perfectly around his face complimented the boy's fair complexion. Mello hand't caught what the teacher had introduced him as.

After the teacher finished talking, the Japanese boy was given some art supplies told that he could choose a seat anywhere in the room. The boy politely thanked the teacher, there was a slightly distinguishable accent in his voice, but if Mello had not been looking for it he doubted that he would have noticed. The boy chose a desk in the back of the classroom. The desk that just so happened to be right next to Mello's.

A plan immediately formed in Mello's mind. This boy probably knew next to no one in the school. The fact that he was older and significantly handsome would make up for the fact that he obviously had no friends. Mello knew that if he was nice the poor new kid would be grateful and hopefully want to hang out with Mello and Matt. Having someone like this guy in their social group would definitely improve that area of Mello's cover.

"Hello," he greeted the boy who had just sat down, holding out his hand for him to shake. "I'm Michael."

"Light," the boy replied, accepting the handshake.

"That's an interesting name," Mello observed. "You're Japanese, right?"

He realized only after he had spoken that this probably wasn't the most polite thing to say. To Mello's relief the boy chuckled at this.

"My name's actually Raito, but I figured that it'd be easier to go by Light," he explained.

"Light is the English translation," Mello wasn't sure why he was stating this.

"Exactly," Light confirmed. "Do you speak Japanese."

 _Practically fluently. I also speak Russian and dabble in French,_ Mello did not say out loud.

"A little," he shrugged.

They stopped their conversation for a few minutes, so that Light could get started on his sketch.

"Who are you drawing?" Light leaned over Mello's desk to get a better look at his drawing. Mello resisted the urge to cover it.

He had been drawing Matt. The only reason that he had opened himself up to the humiliation that he knew he would feel should anyone see his work, was because he had been confident that on one aside from his art teacher _would_ see it. They had been encouraged to draw something or someone that they knew well, and Matt's face was the only one that Mello could clearly picture at the time.

"My roommate," Mello mumbled the answer.

"It's nice," Light said after a split second of hesitation.

"Thanks," Mello hadn't expected the positive comment.

"Why is his hair the only thing that you used color for?" Light asked.

"I wanted it to stand out," Mello shrugged. "It's exceedingly bright in real life."

Light didn't say anything. He just nodded and went back to his drawing. Mello took this opportunity to return the favor and look over Light's artwork.

"Who's she?" Mello gestured to Light's picture.

"My sister," he didn't look up as he answered.

Mello intently observed as Light's pencil carefully etched each line. He decided that Light must have had prior art training, for his drawing was far from amateur. The girl's face came to life on the page. Mello could almost hear the laugh coming from her wide smile. He could see the joy in her eyes.

"What's her name?" Mello asked still staring at the picture.

"Sayu," Light noticed Mello's stare. "What?"

"Nothing," Mello brought his gaze back to his own drawing. "You're good at that. Why are you taking beginner level art? I'm sure the advanced class would love you."

"I don't know," Light shrugged. "I haven't taken a real art class since middle school. I don't want this subject to add any stress to my work load."

Was he being serious?

"Your sister's pretty," Mello only said this because he was curious to see the reaction he would elicit.

"She is," Light said in a far too neutral tone.

"How old is she?" Mello prodded.

"Why?" Light's expression contorted into one of vague amusement.

"No reason," Mello said half-heartedly. "I'm just making conversation."

"Does your roommate know you draw pictures of him?" Light asked, most likely deciding that two could play at that game.

Mello's eyes narrowed.

"I'm just making conversation," Light mimicked.

"I draw pictures of whatever I'm thinking about," Mello said this before realizing what it sounded like.

"Oh," Light raised an eyebrow.

"Not like that, sicko," Mello rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say anything," Light pulled an innocent face.

"Isn't it the middle of the school year in Japan?" Mello changed the subject.

"Yeah," Light answered shortly.

"Why'd you transfer?" Mello asked.

"Lowood offered a scholarship," Light looked slightly embarrassed about this.

"Oh," Mello was caught off guard.

"My old school was kind of expensive, and with one more year until college I wanted to save my family the money while I could," he said humbly.

"That's cool," Mello said slowly, wishing that he had chosen a better word.

"I guess," Light shrugged.

They talked throughout the rest of the class period. Light seemed surprised when class was over, and hurried to pack up his things. Mello was ready to leave the class room in thirty seconds, but waited two minutes since he and Light were talking.

"Do you mind if I eat with you at lunch today?" Light asked. "I don't really know anyone here."

"Sure," he faked a smile.

Mello could not believe how easy this guy was making his job.

* * *

Raito could not believe how easy Mello was making his job.

Aside from when he was in class or working on the case, Raito spent his time shamelessly following Mello and Matt around. Neither seemed annoyed by this, and Raito was confident that he was pulling off the "shy new student" act. However, from what L had told him, Mello wasn't the type to volunteer to help out someone for no reason. It had occurred to Raito early on that Mello was probably using him as part of the his own cover. This made Raito laugh internally. He couldn't wait until the case was solved and he could see the look on the boy's face when he found out that Raito had been working for L the entire time.

It was currently Saturday. Raito had gotten through his first school week without anything odd or suspicious happening. He had been hoping to use the weekend to scout out the rooms where the crime scenes had taken place, but L advised against this. The detective seemed to think that nothing could be gained that Raito couldn't find out through looking at the police reports and already collected evidence.

"Whatever leads were there are long gone now," L had explained.

Raito hadn't argued. However, he had read each police report three times, and was itching to do some sort of investigating. Deciding that he could explore the campus later, he had planned the spend the day wandering the town surrounding the campus. The town and community were rather isolated, being miles away from the nearest large city. Raito understood that there was a high chance that the killer resided in there. Although he didn't expect to gain much information, at least he would be able to gage the community and hopefully get some opinions on the suicides.

He spent the entire morning walking into shops and making conversation with whomever would talk to him. It was nice to exercise the social side or him that he assumed he would have to keep suppressed while on campus in order to stay in close proximity of Mello and his roommate.

The buildings were interesting, and soon he learned that a good few of them were historical. This meant that those who owned the shops were obligated by law not to perform any major construction. Although the buildings were nice to look at, Ratio didn't doubt that the stone walls of some of them felt more than a little outdated to those who had to work there everyday.

"Excuse me?" Raito's train of thought was broken by a high (and thickly accented) voice, he turned his head to see a pretty Japanese girl with bleached hair. "I think I'm lost, do you know where West street is?"

"No, I'm sorry," he replied in Japanese.

"You're not from here either?" A huge smile flashed across the girl's face, also speaking in their first language.

"No," Raito gestured to the general direction of Lowood. "I got to the boarding school. What brings you to England?"

"Work," she sighed dramatically and then giggled. "My modeling agency is trying remote venues."

"You're a model?" the girl didn't look much older than he was. Raito assumed that she must have skipped college to follow this career path.

"Yes," she twirled one of her mini pigtails around her fingers. "I'm Misa."

"Raito." He held out a hand for her to shake, and this sparked another giggle. "Did you say you were looking for West street?"

"Yeah," she sighed again. "Leave it to Misa to get lost on her first day here!"

He ignored her use of third person.

"I'm not doing anything right now, I'll help you find it," he offered.

"Thank you!" she squealed.

They started walking in the opposite direction that Misa had come from. Misa took this as an opportunity to babble about back home, stopping here and there to ask Raito a question. Raito knew that, had he met this girl back in Japan he probably would not have paid much attention to her. However, it was nice to speak Japanese with someone instead of having to mentally translate his thoughts to English. Of course, hew knew that if he really felt the need to speak in his first language he could always talk to L. Yet, he enjoyed showing off how smooth his English was to the detective.

He had to admit that Misa was attractive, but that did not mean that he was attracted to her. Sure, she was cute and talking to someone so energetic was refreshing, but he had never fancied girls like her. In fact, Misa's bubbly energy was starting to remind him of Sayu. Although he could never picture his sister wanting to become a model or wearing Misa's skimpy black dress that he was firmly pretending not to notice. He was sure that Sayu would not be aloud out the the house if their parents ever caught her wearing clothes that resembled Misa's.

"Found it," Raito announced once he stopped the address she had told him she was heading to. "You're only twenty minutes late."

"You saved my life," she declared. "Thank you so much!"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, but you're welcome."

"You said you go to the school here, right?" she asked.

"Yes," he confirmed.

"I'm going to be staying here for a few months," she twirled her hair again.

"You want to meet up sometime?" he guessed what she was hinting at.

"Misa would love that!" The third person was back. She rummaged in her purse before pulling out a business card. "Here's my number."

She winked as Raito pocketed the card.

"I'll see you later," he told her.

Raito knew that he'd have to find a way to be around her without getting trapped in a relationship with the girl. Yet, for the moment, he would put off worrying about that.

* * *

"So, did you solve it yet?" Linda asked the second that Mello answered the phone.

"You're not supposed to call me," he said dully. "Or know about the case, for that matter."

"Everyone knows about it." Mello imagined the girl rolling her eyes as she said this. "And everyone wants to know what's going on."

"But you're the only one brave enough to call me," Mello finished.

"Obviously," she stated. "You don't have to be here for the others to fear your wrath."

"Good," Mello liked that.

"You can still tell me though." He imagined her leaning on a desk or chair. Linda liked to lean on furniture.

"It's top secret," he would have crossed his arms haughtily if he was talking to her in person.

"Come on," she whined.

"If you really want to know, then why don't you hack the reports that I'm sending to Roger," he suggested.

"You have to send him reports?"

"One every week," he huffed. "It's as tedious as it sounds."

 _Not like I tell him everything_ , Mello mused.

If Mello had to explain everything that he did to Roger, then he didn't see the point of him working on the case alone. He also knew that Roger would not approve of some of his present actions and actions to come. Matt, for example, had stayed a secret.

"Not even you can hack his computer," Linda dismissed.

"You don't need to actually hack it," Mello informed her. "Just sneak into his office during his lunch break. His passwords are incredibly easy to guess."

"Only you would do that," she laughed.

"And only I know top secret information," he countered with a grin that he knew she could hear.

"You're no fun," she was probably pouting.

"What's going on over there?" Mello admitted to wanting to know. "Did I miss anything exciting?"

"Not really," Linda paused for a few seconds to think. "We have some new kids, but they don't talk much. Actually, without you there's a lot less talking."

"Interesting."

"I think Near missed you," she added.

Mello gave a loud laugh.

"I'm sure he doesn't," he told her.

"Well, he's more distant and bored than usual," she explained. "I think that's is equivalent to missing you."

"I doubt it," Mello dismissed .

At that moment, Matt entered the room with his laptop under his arm. Mello nodded in greeting at him, but instead of doing the same he began gesture wildly.

"I have to go, Linda," Mello said into the phone.

"You better call me again later," she warned him. "Since you insist on blocking your caller ID."

"It's for safety purposes." He hung up on her and turned his attention to Matt. "What's with the freak out hand motions?"

"I think I have something," Matt excitedly placed his laptop on the desk that Mello was sitting in front of and opened it. "Remember when you had me look into the computers of all the new teachers?"

"Yeah." Mello honestly hadn't thought that anything would be discovered by this, but had felt it was a step in the right direction. "Did you find something?"

"No, I found nothing!" Matt exclaimed.

"We're not going to do the 'nothing means something' game," Mello told him flatly.

"Sorry," Matt muttered with some degree of defense. "What I mean is, I didn't find anything suspicious in any of the computers that I got into. However, there was one computer I was not able to find because it was not on the school system."

"What do you mean?" Mello was interested now. "I thought all students and staff members had to have their computers registered on the school system."

Mello knew this only because his personal computer was not registered.

"Exactly," Matt grinned. "So why isn't Ms. Seto registered? Why would she want to break school policy in the first place?"

"Ms. Seto? Our maths teacher?"

"Yeah," Matt nodded.

Mello considered what Matt had just told him. True, it was suspicious, but was that alone enough for him to suspect Ms. Seto? She could have just forgotten to get her computer registered or not know that she had to? Maybe she didn't want to register it? He wasn't sure why it would bother her, but she was American and they usually had strange opinions about privacy. Still, this was the closest thing to a lead that he had. If this were L or even Near, they would probably be doing something about it.

"Tomorrow's a Sunday," Mello thought out loud. "Teachers usually go off campus during weekends…I'm going to tail her."

"You think she'll do something?" Matt wondered.

"I don't know enough to assume anything," Mello admitted. "But I need information on how she behaves outside of the classroom, so this can't hurt."

Mello did not know the exact floor or room that Ms. Seto lived in, but he knew the building where all of the female teacher stayed. On Sunday morning he headed out early, leaving the room before Matt was even awake. He found a bench to sit on that gave him a good view of the entrance/exit that he was sure Ms. Seto would walk through at some point. He brought a book with him, wanting to look natural incase he ended up sitting on the bench for a long period of time.

Fortunately, the waiting period lasted only for an hour. When Ms. Seto left the building in the direction of the exit of the school, Mello was pleased that she had not noticed him. He waited until she was a good few feet ahead of him before following. Once they were off campus, it was easy for him to stick to the shadows and alley ways.

Ms. Seto wore her long dark hair down so that it fell around her shoulders. Her appearance was one of the reasons that she was Mello's favorite teacher. It wasn't that he was attracted to her, but he liked that she didn't make the effort to dress in the sophisticated manner that his other teachers felt inclined to. Her class was difficult, and he was fairly certain that she enjoyed the fact that her students needed to work a little harder than they were used to in order to get a good score from her. Today Ms. Seto looked even more casual and young than she did on weekdays. The dark jeans and leather jacket reminded Mello of something that he himself would wear, had he been able to bring any of the clothes that he liked with him to the school.

The first stop that she made was at the post office. When she went in, Mello sat down at a table at a cafe across the street from the building. Mello knew that the school was supposed to take care of both student and staff mail (he had learned this back when he was still researching the case from Wammy's House), so it was odd that Ms. Seto felt the need to stop by here in the first place. He watched as she dropped two small envelopes into the public mail box. A few seconds later she exited the building and continued on her way. Mello waited thirty seconds before following her.

It took him another minute to gain a closer distance, his goal was to get as close as he could without her noticing him. This seemed to be going well until her pace began to slow down. Anticipating that she would glance behind her, Mello ducked into a corner. He didn't trust the 'hiding in plain sight' tactic to work thrice in a row. When she turned back around, he was confident that he hadn't seen him.

Well, at least he had been confident up until she bolted down the street at an alarming fast pace. Taken by surprise, Mello ran after her. He turned the corner that he was certain she had, only the find an empty alleyway. Either his maths teacher was the fastest sprinter that he had ever met, or knew the side streets of the town like the back of her hand. Both seemed unlikely.

"What the…?" he whirled around and ran in the other direction, but he was not able to find her for the rest of the day.

* * *

Mello was excited. No, that wasn't the right word. He was happy.

Happy because his favorite teacher might turn out to be a murderer.

Well, at least he didn't delude himself into believing that his thought process was healthy. Mello knew very well how messed up in the head he was, and this had never been something he that bothered him. Mello knew that Matt probably thought that Mello was just glad to have some sort of lead. Matt saw everything that Mello was doing as a selfless attempt to save lives. In reality—sure, Mello wanted to save the future victims—but he also wanted to prove himself. He wanted recognition from L and wanted to be viewed by Roger, Wammy, and the other orphans as more than just Near's backup.

Mello liked Matt. He liked him more than he let on.

Matt was overly friendly, and Mello often saw him as more book smart than street smart. Yet, the boy's cheery and helpful nature had a positive affect on him. Making genuine friendships had never been something that Mello thought worth his time, but he would make an exception for Matt. All of this did not change the fact that, right now, he was using Matt. He couldn't tell Matt the truth, but he knew it was wrong to let him believe the lie. Mello knew this, he felt very little guilt, but he knew this.

"Um, Ms. Seto, can I ask you a question?" Matt asked loudly at the end of class.

Students began to pack up an file out of the room. Usually Ms. Seto didn't like last minute questions and would ask students to come to her room after or before school if they needed help. Luckily, since Matt was one of her brightest students, she let him talk.

"You see," Matt played the embarrassment well. Mello knew this was because he had not wanted to pretend that he could not understand what they were learning in class. "For problem five on last night's homework I got radical four over seven, but when I checked the answer key the answer wasn't a fraction. So I was wondering what I did wrong."

Mello slowly put his books away, waiting for the right moment to exit the classroom.

"I think my first calculations were wrong, but it might have been in the third part," Matt continued.

Unable to answer his question without seeing the problem, Ms. Seto rose from her desk and walked over to Matt's. She carefully served his work, turning her back on the front of the room. This was Mello's cue to move. He swiftly stood from his desk, swung his school bag over his shoulder and headed to the classroom exit. He paused in front of the door. Directly to the left of it was the coat rack where Ms. Seto hung the heavy coat that she wore on weekdays when ever she was outside (apparently she was used to a warmer climate than the chilly fall Lowood was exposed to). Mello paused in front of the coat, and pulled the bead-sized listening device that he'd begged Roger to let him have for the investigation. A quick glance over his shoulder, informed him that Ms. Seto's attention was still on Matt. Without waisting a second, Mello slid a bead into the pocket of her coat and left the classroom.

 _So far, so good._ He smirked.

When Mello arrived at lunch, Light Yagami was already sitting at their usual table. Mello had wondered how Light managed not to make any friends his own age and insisted on spending his time with Mello and Matt. Not that he was complaining, he noticed early on that Light had a way of avoiding negative attention and judgement from his peers. This kind of reputation was the sort that easily wore off on those in close proximity, meaning that Mello and Matt wouldn't have to worry about being seen as loners or easy targets as long as Light Yagami was around.

"Where's Matt?" Light asked when Mello sat down.

"It's nice to see you to," he remarked dryly before answering the question. "Still in maths, he's having issues with the homework problems."

Light nodded sympathetically and Mello wondered how irritated Matt would be when he found out that Mello had said this. His thoughts were interrupted by a repeated beeping sound coming from the phone sitting next the Light's food. Light rolled his eyes when he looked at the device.

"You know, we're not supposed to have those on during the school day," Mello informed him. This was a rule Mello obviously did not abide by, but he had more than just his rebel attitude as an excuse for that one.

"I'm not in class right now," Light said back, but pocketed the phone.

"You're not going to answer those?" Mello asked.

Light shook his head.

"I told her not to text me when I'm at school," he said this more to himself than to Mello.

"Her?" Mello raised an eyebrow.

"No one." The fact that Light didn't want to talk about this only made Mello want to know more.

"You've only been here a week and you've already met a girl?" Mello almost didn't believe this. "What did you do, wander around the town until you ran into one? Or did you pretend you were lost and wait until a pretty passerby took pity on you?"

"Actually she was the lost one," Light corrected. "But it's not like that."

"So you're leading some poor girl on, then?" Mello accused with a smirk.

"It's not like that either," Light answered even though it did nothing to change Mello's stance.

"Then what is she texting you?"

"Nothing," Light looked embarrassed now.

"Really? Because that was at least four or five nothings," Mello grinned wickedly.

Light removed the phone from his pocket, and looked over the messages that the girl had sent him. Before he could return the device to it's hiding place, Mello snatched it from his hand.

"Hey!"

Mello's eyes scanned the texts before he handed the phone back.

"She's asking you out," he stated.

"I think she just wants to talk," Light tried.

Before Mello could ask why on Earth a random girl that Light had met that weekend would want to talk to him, Matt joined them.

"That was all your fault," he muttered at Mello, who made a mental note to thank him later.

"Light has a girlfriend," Mello announced.

"Really?" Matt seemed even more surprised than Mello had.

"No," Light said sharply. "We're not dating. I'm not interested in her."

"Prove it," Mello crossed his arms.

"You sound like a third-grader," Light informed him.

"Don't care," Mello retorted.

"He's a third-grader at heart," Matt muttered, but they both ignored him.

"Fine. Why don't you two get dinner with us tonight?" Light suggested.

"Okay," Matt accepted before Mello could think of an excuse out of it.

"Sure," Mello answered now that he was stuck.

The rest of the day passed faster than Mello had expected it would. Before he and Matt left campus to meet Light and his 'not girlfriend' at the only decent restaurant within the next five miles, he decided to check on the listening device that he had planted in Ms. Seto's coat. Pulling up the feed on his laptop, Mello skipped through the three hours of recorded lessons. He stopped when the recording was at the end of the day, which was only a few minutes ago. Despite being encased in the wool of the coat pocket, the audio was distinguishable. Mello listened to Ms. Seto pack up her things, and then to her footsteps as they approached the door. There was a slightly muffled noise that Mello assumed was her pulling the coat on. However, instead of stopping after a few short seconds, the muffling became louder and louder. Then abruptly ceased.

Realization hit Mello. Ms. Seto must have put her hand in her pocket and found the bead. Yet, this was supposed to be nearly impossible! Of course it had occurred to Mello knew that she might happen to put her hand in the pocket of her coat, for it was common for people to walk with their hands in their pockets out of comfort. In case this happened, the bead was designed to stick to the wool, not to mention the fact that the size alone should have made it go unnoticed. The only way Ms. Seto could have possibly found the bead was if she had been looking for it.

Mello listened to the silence intently, holding on to the hope that he was wrong and she didn't realize what the bead was. The quiet was cut of by a loud thud, and Mello assumed she had dropped the bead onto the floor. A second later the feed cut off to the sound of a metallic crunch. Ms. Seto had stepped on the listening device.

"Ready to go?" Matt asked, breaking Mello's train of thought.

"She did it," his own voice sounded distant. "I don't have any proof, but she's the murderer. She has to be."

"Ms. Seto?" Despite the fact that they were investigating her, this information seemed to shock Matt as much as it stunned Mello.

"Let's go," Mello stood up from the desk chair. "I need to clear my head."

* * *

 **This is the longest chapter I've posted for a fanfic (but it won't be the longest in this story). Thanks for reading, please visit the review box on your way out!**

 **I'm intrigued to know what you guys are thinking so far. Since this is somewhat of a mystery fic, I'd love to hear some predictions or theories. (Such as "Is Seto really the killer?", "Are Matt and Mello going to hook up?", "Is Misa here for a reason?", "Does Piper fish for reviews too much?", extra.)**

 **Review responses:**

 **Cyinamas, yes this is the fic that I wrote for NaNoWriMo. Thanks for remembering!**

 **Wizard-Party-Forever, I'm glad that you liked the Lawlight bit in the last chapter. I wasn't sure if the relationship was going to come off too subtle for a romance fic, but I wanted to establish their friendship first (despite the fact that they don't know each other in person yet).**

 **KnowNonsense, I'm happy that you like the pacing! My stories tend to come off as slow build, and I'm never sure how reader's reactions will be to this. Thanks for the** **review!**

 **m3la, thanks for your** **review!**

 **Corliss, I think that a lot of people forget that Raito's pride existed before he picked up the death note. It's true that he is a nicer person without it, but his personality is far from perfect. Thanks for noticing that I'm trying to emulate that! (And I agree with the room thing.)**


	5. Chapter Five

Raito was the first one to make it to the restaurant. This was not because he was early. After waiting five minutes for the other three to show up, and seriously considering the fact that they were standing him up, he let the waiter show him to their table. The table the he had reserved because he had assumed that when the other three said they would meet him they meant it.

"I am _so_ sorry," Misa arrived at the restaurant another ten minutes later. "My photo shoot took forever."

"That's fine," Raito said stiffly, deciding against conveying his annoyance.

Misa shrugged off the silk black coat that she had been wearing to reveal a ridiculously skimpy dress. Although the restaurant wasn't cold, her lack of clothing made Raito wonder how she was not freezing. She flipped her blonde hair so that it fell behind her bare shoulders as she sat down in the seat across from him.

"Where are your friends?" she rested her elbow on the table and her head on her hand.

"Late and without an excuse," he brought his line of vision to the menu in front of him.

It took him less then a minute to figure out what he was going to order, but he kept staring at the paper until he had thought up a neutral topic of conversation. He began asking her questions about what she missed most about Japan, and what had made her decide to get into modeling. As she talked, half of his attention span listened to her while the other half tried to figure out a way to get him out of this situation without hurting her feelings.

Yes, he had known that she was interested in him within their first conversation. Misa wasn't the best at being subtle (if her outfit right now was anything to go by) and probably thought that Raito was flirting back. In all honesty, he wasn't. Well, not intentionally at least. Maybe he was being a little too friendly, but that was what Raito always did when he wanted people to like him. With Misa this seemed to work a little too much.

To occupy his mind if nothing else, he considered what would be the worst thing that could happen if he did ask the girl out. Raito was fully aware of how good looking he was and he knew that having a girlfriend could help him keep up a normal appearance for the case. However, the fact that Misa was an up and coming model may counteract his idea of blending in.

When he got down to the wire, the real reason keeping him from dating her was the fact that he wasn't attracted to her. And, even if he was, Raito had never been the sort of person to waist his time on a romantic relationship. He didn't mind spending time with Misa, it was nice to talk to someone who grew up in the same country as he did and he needed one thing in his present life that was not completely connected to solving the murder. Yet, if he were to risk his time and energy with a commitment, it would have to be with someone who he deemed worth it.

"Yes, we know that we're late. You don't have to say anything," Mello said to Raito as he and Matt approached their table.

"Hello to you too," Raito replied sarcastically.

"And that is the largest amount of unprovoked attitude I have ever heard from either of you," Matt must have felt the need to speak up.

"We're Light's weird friends," Mello directed this to Misa, Matt rolled his eyes at his friend's manners.

"I'm Matt," he sat down next to her. "You must be Misa."

Mello slid into the chair next to Raito, making sure to catch his eyes as he did. Mello then nodded his head subtly to Misa and raised both eyebrows. Knowing that he was referring to her clothing, Raito mustered a confused expression but was fairly sure that it came out as uneasy.

"Nice jacket," Misa commented to Mello who was wearing a very expensive looking leather garment. "Is it real?"

"Yes," Mello answered with a degree of pride that Raito could distinguish.

For a brief moment he wondered what the blonde dressed like when he wasn't undercover at a boarding school. It took all of ten seconds for his mind to formulate an image that he would have been far happier not having conjured up. This was not dismissed in the slightest by the fact that Misa and Mello were now having what the two of them seemed to deem a very interesting conversation about their favorite brands that sold leather clothing. Raito stopped listening when Mello explained that "good leather pants can not be bought at men's stores." His gaze traveled to Matt who looked just as bewildered.

It was about ten minutes after their meals had come, that Misa began to direct her attention back to making suggestive eyes at Raito. Deciding to take advantage of the fact that Mello thought he was uneasy, Raito faked an academic emergency to leave early. He knew that only Misa thought that he was telling the truth when he said that he forgot to study for a test that he just realized was taking place the next day. Matt and Mello kept quiet about being able to see through him, both of them thinking that he was panicking over Misa's attempt to seduce him. Alright, maybe 'seduce' was an over exaggeration.

When Raito returned to his room he was once again thankful that he did not have a roommate. He knew that this had to be because L had paid extra for his dorm or done some sort of trick in the school's system to make it look like Raito's room could only hold one student. The extra space and quiet made it easier for Raito to work.

Comfortable with loosing some sleep that night, Raito began looking over all of the information that he had on the first victim. He knew that there had to be something that drew the killer to this first boy, and would need to recognize what that was in order to establish the pattern in victims. Unfortunately, 'everything that he knew' was not very much.

The most peculiar, if not the most important, detail that Raito had been able to find out was that Hadley Jenson had transfer to the school in the middle of the third quarter of that year. The day before Raito had asked L for access to the application that Jenson's parents had sent to the school. Through this he had learned that Jenson was sent to the school on his parent's personal, almost pleading, request. They had not plainly stated why it was so important for him to attend the boarding school, but they had alluded to him needing time to focus on school away from home. They had mentioned that he needed to work through something personal.

Raito had reasoned that the fact that Jenson was new to the school made him an easy target for the murderer. If he had emotional issues that his family had sent him away to over come, it would make him seem like the type to kill himself. Yet, in order to infer that Raito would need to know more about the boy's emotional state.

He quickly typed an email to L—the detective had told him only to initiate a phone call if it was an emergency—and asked if he could have access to Jenson's personal email. If Jenson was communicating to anyone back home reading these emails would give Raito a better idea of how the boy's home as well as school life was.

Raito didn't expect L to respond immediately, since he knew that L had other cases he was working on. So after sending the email he decided to turn in for the night. That was when Mello called him.

"You're such a coward," Mello stated the second that Raito picked up. He sounded more humored than irritated to be stuck with Raito's date for the remainder of the night.

"Sorry," Raito hid his own amusement.

"Lucky for you, I took care of things." He could practically hear the blonde's smirk.

"Should I be scared?" Raito asked.

"No, you should be very, very grateful," Mello's tone was matter-of-fact.

"What did you say to her?" Raito cut to the chase.

"Only that you're a very shy person and that if you're interested you would want to take things slow," Mello explained. "And that she probably freaked you out a little bit."

"Thanks," Raito was surprised that he meant this.

"You know, she's not that bad," Mello continued. "If you're not into her, you should break it off."

"Yeah," Raito did not need to be told this.

"Bye," Mello ended the conversation.

* * *

L rarely stayed in the same place for long, but there were certain areas that he preferred over others. New York City was definitely not one of these places. The city was loud and crowded, and it gave L a headache to have to think through the cloud of noise and pollution. If L didn't see the need to be as close to his current case as possible, he would be working three states away. But, if he learned anything from the latest victim, it was that he needed to do everything in his power to find the murderer. If this meant sacrificing his mental health for a few months, then so be it. It wasn't as if that wasn't already in a downward spiral.

Anger coursed through him as he looked over the police reports of the latest death. The woman had been found by her boyfriend lying on the floor of the kitchen in her apartment. The sight of her broken and twisted limbs alone was enough to send the poor man to therapy for the rest of his life. It had been recorded that it wasn't the beating that had snuffed out the woman's life.

It was only in her last moments that the killer had thought it time to spill her blood, cleanly cutting her throat. The shape of the wound was what filled L's mouth with a disgust that no amount sugar could ever take away the taste. The kitchen knife (which the killer had left behind with no trace of DNA) had split her epiglottis in a straight horizontal line. The cut then formed a right angle and continued until it met her chin.

The wound formed the letter L.

* * *

Raito had read twenty-five long-winded emails in the past four days.

Jenson's parents rarely sent him any messages. Judging from the few that his mother did write him, it was clear that she preferred to talk to him on the phone. Raito didn't think that the same could be said about the boy's father, and was fairly certain that the man barely communicated with his son at all. The lengthy emails were sent to and from Jenson's sister. Raito wasn't sure on their exact age difference, but picked up on the fact that the girl was still living with their parents. Judging by how close the two siblings seemed, Raito figured that they weren't far apart in age.

In their emails, the sister talked about everything that he was missing at home (Raito found these boring but read them just incase). Jenson's responses were even more depressing that Raito had anticipated. It was clear that the poor kid hated Lowood, most of his peers, and all of his classes. Jenson's mood seemed to slightly improve when he talked about how he had met a girl named Samantha (Raito assumed that she lived in the town he had met Misa). Samantha, or Sam as they referred to her, became a regular topic of discussion, the sister humored the fact that he couldn't stop talking about the girl. It was only after Jenson's first month in the school that he openly acknowledged that he and Sam were in a relationship. After stating this he had added "please don't tell Mom or Dad."

Closing the twenty-sixth email, Raito decided that he needed to clear his head.

* * *

Mello had never been a patient person. It had been four days since he had discovered that Ms. Seto was connected to the murders, and he needed someway to jolt her into revealing more. Against his better judgement, he was going to be upfront about this.

"I have a question," Mello stood in front of her desk at the end of class. The last of his classmates had left the room, and Matt lingered in the doorway with a confused expression.

"If it's about the homework, you can see me after school," she didn't look up from the worksheet she was grading.

"Actually, it's not about math," Mello continued.

"Michael, I believe you have another class to be getting to," she told him.

He didn't bother telling her that he had lunch next.

"I know you're new here," he didn't stop speaking. "But have you heard about the suicides?"

Now she looked up.

"There have been a lot in the past few months, haven't there?" Out of the conner of his eyes he saw a look of sheer disbelief on Matt's face. "The thing is, I don't think that they're really suicides. I think they're murders."

"That isn't something that you should declare so lightly," she voice sounded like one of a stern teacher, but the expression of shock on her face gave her away.

"You're right," Mello chanced one more comment. "If someone hears me I might get killed to."

He exited the room before she could send him the the headmaster, dragging Matt behind him as he left.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Matt was angrier than Mello had ever seen him.

"Trying to get a lead," Mello shrugged.

"Four days ago you told me that you think she's the killer!" Matt grabbed hold of Mello's shoulder.

"I'm going to search her room tomorrow," Mello decided. "She's out all day on weekends."

"Are you suicidal?" Matt looked liked he was about to punch Mello.

"No," Mello stopped and gave him a serious expression. "No one in this school is."

As he continued walking, he began to form his plan. He realized that, before he left he would give Roger an accurate report (still exempting Matt). If anything bad happened he would need more than just his roommate knowing who his prime suspect was.

"Michael," Matt's voice was tenser than he had ever heard it before.

"We shouldn't talk about this out here," Mello used this as an excuse to change the subject.

"I'm not done with this conversation," Matt tried, sounding more an more like a pissed off girlfriend.

"Then make your case later," Mello wasn't in the mood to here this.

* * *

Raito placed his a Misa's lattes on the cafe table, and took a seat across from her. Misa beamed at him and continued babbling in Japanese. Raito tried his best to follow what she was saying, but he had to admit that her stories bored him. It wasn't like she could tell the difference from when he was engaged in the conversation and when he was zoning out. In his defense, when he wasn't paying attention to her, his thoughts were usually on more important things. What he was going to say in his next update to L, for example.

Both Raito's thoughts and Misa's story was interrupted by Raito's ringtone. Raito pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was L. Since he had told L that it was fine to call him anytime during weekends, and L had told him that if he didn't answer within the first five rings L would automatically assume that Raito was in danger, Raito had to pick up.

The ringer went off for the second time.

"I'm sorry I gotta take this," Raito apologized to Misa.

The ringer went off for the third time.

"But I'm not done telling you what happened yesterday," she pouted.

Fourth time.

"It's important," he assured her.

Raito clicked to answer button just as the fifth ring was going off.

"Hello, it's me," Raito greeted L. He needed to make sure that the almost late answer time was not registered as an emergency.

"Who's calling you, anyway?" Misa asked loud enough that he was sure L and half the cafe could hear her. At least the care patrons didn't speak Japanese.

"My boyfriend."

The words had left Raito's lips before registering with his brain. He quickly wiped the shocked expression from his face, knowing that he'd need to stick with the lie that he had just created. This could be a good thing. At least if Misa thought that he was gay she would stop subtly flirting with him.

"What?" Both Misa and L asked at the same time.

There was no way that this could be a good thing.

"My boyfriend," Raito repeated as if neither had herd him.

"Say that I'm in Japan," L instructed after a sigh and beat of painfully awkward silence.

"He still lives in Japan," Raito told Misa. "It's hard to find times to talk because of the time difference, so I promised that I'd pick up whenever he calls."

"Oh." Misa looked dumbfounded.

"Now get to a place where we can talk without you being over heard," L ordered.

"Okay," Raito said to L. He turned to Misa and added: "I'll be right back."

"Pretend that you're talking to me as you walk away," L said. "Don't make yourself look suspicious."

"Whatever you say, darling." Raito had begun walking, but was still in earshot of Misa.

"Ask me how my day was."

"How was your day, sweetie?" Raito could feel his cheeks burning red in embarrassment.

"Cut back on the endearments," L told him.

"I'll call you whatever I want, lover," Raito had no clue where that one came from.

"Getting a bit possessive there," L drawled. "Are you alone yet?"

"Yeah, now I am." Raito was currently standing in an alley way of a building across from the cafe that he and Misa had been eating at. "Sorry about all that. My friend was being huffy about me answering your call."

"Whatever you need to say to keep your cover is fine by me," L said neutrally. "Although I'm not sure that one was all that convincing."

"I'll give her a rounded story about my supposed boyfriend later," Raito shrugged. "She was probably too shocked to notice how odd I sounded."

"Is there anything new that I need to be aware of?" L brought the conversation back on topic.

"No," Raito told him. "Mello seems fine, still exceedingly bad at making friends, but fine."

"Any new leads?"

"Unfortunately, no." Raito hated admitting this. "I've been going over Jenson's emails, but I haven't found anything big that would make him a potential target."

"I see."

"But I'll have something new soon," Raito assured him. "I feel like I'm on the cusp of something."

"Your eagerness impresses me," L said flatly. "However, since you cannot yet predict the victims, I'm going to have to ask that you keep a closer eye on Mello."

"Of course," Raito agree.

"Please be careful yourself," L added.

"I am being careful, L."

"I would hate to loose my pretend boyfriend," L chuckled.

"Yeah," Raito laughed. "Wait. What should I call you? When I'm pretending, I mean."

"Hmm," L mulled this over. "Ryuzaki."

"Alright, Ryuzaki."

L hung up.

"You're gay?" Misa asked the second that he sat back down at their table.

"Yes," he swallowed the word.

"Oh my God! Why didn't you tell me?" She leaned across the table to playfully swat his arm.

"I was going to." Faking a sheepish expression was all too easy. "I just wasn't sure how you'd react."

"Did you think I wouldn't accept you or something?" she didn't wait for an answer. "Raito, you're by best friend here!"

"Thanks." He took notice that she called him friend now. He should have pretended to come out when he first met her.

"So," she drew out the word and grinned. "What's he like? I want details!"

"He's different," Raito searched his brain for other descriptions for his nonexistent boyfriend. "He's very intelligent."

"Well, obviously," Misa giggled. "What's his name?"

"Ryuzaki."

"Ryuzaki," Misa repeated the name to herself. "Is he hot?"

"He has a nice voice," Raito tried his best to make a lovestruck expression. "Once he starts talking to me, I don't want him to stop. Sometimes the subject matters, but usually it's just the fact that he's talking—that he's talking to me of all people. And I mean really talking, not just going through the motions or skimming the surface of a conversation. I know that everything he voices is something that he truly believes, and he trusts me with his opinion."

"That is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard," Misa was gaping.

"Thanks," Raito's eyes met his shoes.

Where the hell had all of that come from?

* * *

"I'm not letting you do this," Matt stood between Mello and the doorway. "It's stupid. You're just giving her another reason to kill you."

"She'll be in jail before she has the chance to touch me," Mello dismissed. "We're never going to get anything done if we don't take risks."

"I'm not going with you," Matt seemed to think that this would make a difference.

"Okay," Mello placed his hands on his hips, sizing his friend up. "Do what you want."

"You are crazy, aren't you?" Matt apparently was trying a different approach now. "Do you not understand how real this is?"

"Do you?" Mello countered. "We've been sneaking into crime scenes and planting bugs in people's clothes. Does searching a suspect's room really make it that much more scary to you? Why on Earth did you sign up for this if you didn't think that I was crazy?"

"You're incredibly rash, you know?" This came out in a low voice. There was no threat to Matt's words, but Mello could hear something else that he was unable to read.

"You're not the first person who's said that to me," he pushed past Matt and to the door of their room. "And you're not going to be the last."

"Michael—"

"If I don't come back, then you were right and you should go to the police." He added this only to prove to the other boy that he was not completely thoughtless. "Make a big fuss about her being the killer."

Matt was silent, but Mello didn't bother waiting around for a response. If it came to that, Matt would do as Mello instructed. Wether he was happy about it or not.

Not wanting his promise of having something new soon to go to waist, Raito spent the rest of the day reading the remained of Jenson's emails to his sister. To his surprise the last email that Jenson sent did allude to the boy killing himself. This explained why the family had accepted the death so easily. Raito had to assume that the killer had read this email, but would have thought that he or she would have wanted something more noticeable.

Raito tried to read the online letter as if it was just one of the depressed boy's daily updates, but the more he did the more it sounded like he was saying goodbye. What struck Raito as odd, and would have offended him were he in the sister's position, was that Jenson talked more about Sam than about the girl he was sending the email to. The email was full of statements like "Sam will be upset" and "I'm worried about how Sam will take it."

Raito would go over things again before he updated L.

* * *

The woman who's real name was not Asaka Seto knew that the boy who's real name was not Michael Keller was in her room. Or rather, she knew that he had been there an hour after she left campus. If he had the courage to enter in the first place, she didn't doubt that he'd have the will to stay as long as he needed to. This didn't bother her. She would let him have his fun. She knew that he suspected her.

"Michael" and his friend didn't worry her. After the stunt with the recording device, she knew that they weren't acting alone. Two teenagers trying to play detective would not have had access to that kind of technology. She didn't know who sent them, but soon she would. After they had conducted their search, she suspected another confrontation. This was good, it would save her the trouble of approaching them herself.

If someone of a lower IQ searched her apartment, it would make her look even more suspicious. But those two were not stupid, and soon they would know all that they needed to.

"Asaka Seto" had not committed any of the murders. But she knew who had. From the very beginning she had known who had.

Alright, maybe she hadn't been completely certain, but she wouldn't be at the school in the first place if she didn't feel very strongly that she was right. Had she Michael's resources, she was sure that she would have solid evidence by now. Unfortunately, she was at the school and on the case by herself. Not like anyone would have helped her, when she made her suspicion known no one took her seriously.

After the break out, they had all coined her paranoid and grasping at straws. They said that she only thought that this was the work of that convict because she wanted so desperately to him to by caught again. She knew that they had, even if all but one person had refused to say it to her face. The fact that it was the man she was about to marry who had been blunt with her only made things worse. Not that she hadn't been blunt back. Only over the plane ride to England did she regret saying to his face that she knew she was smarter than him, telling him that she had always been smarter and better at their job—better at her former job…

Getting the position of maths teacher was easy. Not many teachers had responded to the application, and that fact that she was American hadn't seemed to matter to the headmaster. What mattered more was her degree in mathematics, which she had been able use despite her fake name.

Her fiancé hadn't wanted her to go. He hand't called her since she left. She didn't call him either, but she sent him a letter every Saturday. Each one contained both an apology and a reassurance that she knew she wasn't crazy. She was right about this, and soon he was going to realize that. Only vaguely did she recognize that being right may have cost her that relationship.

Today she had gotten a late start to her Saturday routine, only leaving Lowood in the late afternoon. She had done this to assist Michael and his friend with breaking into her room, since there would be less teachers around to catch them at that time. She hadn't yet gone to the postoffice, although that was usually the first thing that she did. Today she'd had tests to grade and information to mentally process. Because of this she had spent her afternoon in the quietest cafe the town had to offer.

Now it was getting late, and she decided that she was heading back wether or not Michael was still in her room. By now the postoffice was closed, so she would have drop off her letter Sunday morning. Yes, it still would be closed, but she could drop the letter into the public box outside. She made it one block away from the cafe before feeling eyes on the back of her head.

It wasn't Michael tailing her the way that he had the week prior. If the boy was done searching her apartment, then he wouldn't feel the need to hide from her. If he had decided to forego his plan, he wouldn't risk following her at a late hour.

This meant that she would have to assume the worst: the murderer had found her.

She was going to die. That was as definite as it was terrifying. The only thing that had kept her alive this long was the fact that she had gone unnoticed by him. She knew that as soon as he knew she was on the scene he would want to eliminate. Taking the job may have seemed foolish because of this, but she had held on to the hope that his focus and eyes had been on the students only. She'd thought he had ignored the staff all together. Maybe her former colleagues were right about her mental capabilities slipping…

 _No_. If the next few minutes were going to be her last she was no going to think self deprecating thoughts. Especially now that she knew she was right.

This would be her last moment, and there was no way around it. If she tried to get back to campus, there was a chance that the killer would let her make it to her room. What if Michael was still there? She didn't need to endanger him anymore than he was already endangering himself. She needed a plan.

She quickly changed her course and walked into another more crowded coffee shop, and stepped into the line. As subtly as possible, she pulled out the letter to her fiancé and the pen she had been using to write grades. Carefully, she opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. On the it's blank back she hastily scrawled "I was right. Tell someone. I'm sorry. I love you." She had it back into the envelope and sealed with a piece of portable scotch tape before reaching the front of the line.

With a useless cup of coffee in her hand, she made her way to the closed postoffice. It seemed that everyone had gone home of the night, but she did her best to stay in lit and slightly populated streets. Her shadow was less than a block behind her, and she needed to get her letter mailed before he decided to pounce.

It was just her luck that the entire block was barren. When the building was in her line of vision, it took all of her will power not to break into a run. Going to the second coffee shop was suspicious enough. She couldn't give the killer any hints as to what she was doing. When she opened the slot on the public mailbox, she forced her trembling hands steady. She slid the letter in, not able to hear it hit the bottom over the pounding of her own heart.

 _I'm sorry._ Her mind echoed her last message to the man who might have married her.

It was when she turned away that she felt something hard collide with her left shoulder.

* * *

He had waited for the precise moment to attack. He expected more of a fight from her. He craved it.

Killing depressed boarding school students bored him. They rarely struggled hard enough and begged the entire time for mercy. The begging was irritating and anticlimactic. None of the school boys could quench his thirst for a real death. A death that meant something to both him and the victim.

He had just been a monster to those boys, but to this woman he was human. A psychopathic maniac, but one that she had thought she could best. She thought that she could outsmart him. She thought that she could catch him like the crawling dog she thought he was. Like the crawling dog she knew he was.

Yes. He would enjoy this.

She had thrown her coffee backwards at him. He didn't suppress his giddy laugh as the liquid stung his skin. He had expected the kick that followed, but let the heel of her boot make contact with his stomach anyway. She used this as an opportunity to stand, favoring the shoulder that he had punched. He let her get a few more blows in before cheating and pulling out his knife. His hand moved so quick and elegantly that he wished that there was spectator to admire his technique.

She crumpled to the ground, in too much pain to notice his skill. He didn't blame her. Her shiny leather clothes were now glazed over in patched by a deep red. He had made sure not to hit too vulnerable of a spot. He didn't want her to die of internal bleeding. That was no fun.

He expected her to scream. She didn't. This was slightly disappointing. He had been ready to cover her mouth. He knew full well that she would only bite his hand.

Instead of dwelling on this, he made the best of the situation and proceeded to break into the postoffice. He used the but of his knife to shatter the glass. Once he had made a solid crack it was easy to push the shards into the building with his gloved arms. They fell with little resistance. He did receive a few cuts in the process, but they were worth it.

He returned to the woman and dragged her into the building. It took two hands to carry her, so he had to return his knife to his pocket. She tried to push him off. He admired that she didn't give up. Admiration was not enough to let him spare her. She knew too much and he had been anticipating this for too long. This woman was meant to die this night. Even as she fought, he was sure that she knew this on some level.

The back office was his ideal location. He dropped her in the middle of the floor. He pulled out the knife again. It had been so long since had inflicted the full extend of pain on his victims that he was capable of. He itched to show her exactly what happened to those who tried to catch him.

But he would not do this tonight. If anyone deserved his respect it was this woman. He wouldn't inflict anymore pain than was necessary. Though he doubted she would see his method for her murder as mercy.

He didn't have any rope to bind her. Fortunately, he knew which nerve to sever to paralyze her legs. He made the first cut swift. Her face contorted in pain. He didn't need to impair the other. She wasn't going anywhere.

He reached into his pocket to pull out his surprise. He met her eyes as he did so. The pain was still apparent, but he could read the hate as well. A cold smile curled on his lips.

"Don't think you've won." She ordered this in a soft hiss.

"She speaks yet says nothing." He recited, playing the mad man she believed he was.

He finished the job and left the building through the back exit. Still smiling.

* * *

 **This chapter was the most fun to write so far! I worked a lot on the syntax when writing for the killer, and, well, who doesn't enjoy writing in the POV of a murderer. Points to anyone who recognizes the quote the murder recited at the end (it's from a very know play but not an often used quote).**

 **Review responses:**

 **Bluxpudding, I'm glad that you're enjoying this fic! I've been trying to make the chapter longer and more eventful, thanks for noticing!**

 **Guest, well you were right about her being an undercover agent. The In Person sequel is currently in the works (I like to have most of my first draft of a fic done before I start posting), Thanks for asking, you actually motivated me to work on it more.**

 **Kiii, you also right about Ms. Seto, thanks for predicting! No need to apologize for the wall of text, I love long reviews and any sort of feedback!**

 **Wizard-Party-Forever, I'm happy you like the MxM. Light definitely hasn't come as far as Mels, and you're definitely right in thinking this will upset his competitive nature if/when he finds out. Thanks for the review!**

 **SadlyNotLawliet, thanks for your review, you were right about Ms. Seto being connected to the killer!**

 **Thanks to everyone reading! I'll see you next chapter!**


	6. Chapter Six

"Misa says that you're gay." Mello informed Raito at breakfast.

"Really, you don't have to announce it to the entire school, I can handle that part on my own," Raito said sarcastically.

"You shouldn't act so ashamed," Mello sat down next to him.

"I'm not." Ratio began having second thoughts about the 'I'm gay' cover. It was one thing to tell this to Misa, but he hadn't wanted Mello and Matt to think of him in that way.

"Good," Mello stated. "Because I don't have time to deal with closet drama."

Raito stopped himself from telling Mello that his 'closet drama' was his and his alone to deal with. After replaying that sentence in his brain he was glad that he had not voiced it.

"So she didn't also tell you that I have a boyfriend, then?" Raito asked dryly, knowing that Misa would have disclosed the entire event.

"Oh, that was all she talked about," Mello smirked. "Apparently you're a hopeless romantic."

"She told you what I said?" Panic coursed through Raito.

"No," Mello's smirk widened. "She just said that it was sappy."

"Exceedingly so," Raito grumbled. "Remind me again why the two of you get along so well?"

"So someone can update me on your sexuality," Mello said cheekily. "Why didn't you tell her you were gay when she was trying to shag you?"

"She wasn't trying to shag me." Raito paused. "Did she say she was?"

"No," Mello laughed. "So what's your mystery boy like?"

"Mine and none of your business," Raito momentarily forgot how imperative it was that he be nice to Mello.

"Misa's right, you _are_ possessive," Mello smirked widely.

"I'm not—she heard the possessive thing?" Raito had thought that he had been out of Misa's earshot for his last fake endearment.

"Who are you and what have you done with the shy transfer student I let hang out with me?" Mello was enjoying this too much for Raito's comfort. "I'm starting to feel bad for mystery boy."

"Don't, he likes it," Raito said before his brain told him to filter (or told him where that remark had even come from).

"Oh," Mello suggestively raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up," Raito groaned, covering his face with his hands.

"I'm not judging you," Mello said through his snickering.

"Sure you're not," Raito replied sarcastically. "Where's Matt? I can't deal with you if you don't have you're nicer other half?"

"Matt is not my nicer half," Mello snapped in faux defense, crossing his arms.

"Sorry," Raito pretended to correct himself. "More attractive other half."

"Shut up," Mello rolled his eyes. "And I don't expect him to show up today."

"Are you two fighting?" Raito read Mello's vexed expression.

"No," Mello lied. "He's just behaving like a girl. He'll get tired of it eventually."

"I'll just pretend I know what that means," he decided.

* * *

Mello had intended to apologize to Matt once he had gotten back from Ms. Seto's room, but Matt had made a point of avoiding him since their argument. His irritating worried roommate was right about how dangerous the situation could have become, not that Mello hadn't already known this going in. Acknowledging the danger was not the same as agreeing to sit on his butt and do nothing.

L wouldn't do that. Maybe Near would, since the albino twat preferred to have every tiny detail planned out before taking action. Mello wasn't emotionless like Near, or perfect like L. In a way, he had been so rash because he wanted to prove this. It was only after that he reminded himself that neither of them were watching him. And, even if L was, Mello doubted that he would have been impress by the display of blind gall. In the end, searching the room had been the right decision. Not for his pride, but for the case.

Ms. Seto didn't do it. That part had been clear. While going through her stuff (and putting everything away nicely, mind you) Mello had found out that she was also an investigator. At first this had incited a spark of jealousy. This was supposed to be his case. He wanted to be the one to find the killer, and, from reading her exceeding vague notes, it seemed that she already had a good idea who he was. Mello had pushed his green-eyed monster aside and tried to think of what action he would take next. He could tell Ms. Seto a little more than he had told Matt. He wouldn't reveal that he was L's apprentice, but would make it clear that he had been sent professionally.

With her leads, he was sure that he'd be able to find the killer before anyone else got hurt. He doubted that she would protest to collaborating, since she had no reason to. He'd have to explain searching her apartment, but if she was a detective he was sure she would understand. Deciding that the best time to confront her would be after maths class, Mello began to plan what he was going to say as he went about the beginning of his day.

Then she wasn't there.

When Mello and the other students arrived at the classroom, they were greeted by the Algebra teacher who had agreed to be their substitute. A student had asked where Ms. Seto was, but the other teacher had replied that he did not know. Ms. Seto was supposed to be at work that day.

This was the first time of the day that Matt had broken his vow to shun Mello and looked him straight in the eye. This look was confused and very slightly impressed. Matt seemed to be asking "is that it?" Was searching the room all the evidence that Mello had needed to send the woman to prison? Mello shook his head. His own perplexed expression clearly broadcasted his thoughts of "I didn't do this."

He wasn't able to focus for the class period, and he could tell that Matt couldn't either. Maybe Matt was still upset with him, considering that the boy had given him the silent treatment for a day and a half, Mello doubted that he would be able to avoid an apology. Yet, he knew that Matt's curiosity was getting the best of him. The redhead was secretly dying to know what Mello had found out and what it had to do with Ms. Seto's disappearance. Unfortunately, Mello couldn't answer the second question.

"Well?" Matt did look at him as they walked out of the classroom and down the hall together.

"It wasn't her," Mello admitted, knowing he'd have to give Matt the information before the boy properly asked.

"Then why is she hiding?" Matt questioned immediately.

"She's a detective," Mello went on as if he hadn't heard him. "She was looking into the case herself, that's why she was so paranoid."

"She's from America," Matt started.

"I think she used to be with the FBI," Mello had no solid proof of this much, but he had gaged his teacher's skills when going through the few notes that she had left in the apartment. "I don't think she is now though, they would have given her more resources."

"Do you have any idea where she is?" Matt asked.

"No," Mello shook his head. "I haven't spoken to her since Friday."

"So she didn't catch you then?"

"No," Mello said flatly. "She did not. She probably doesn't even know that I was in there."

"You don't think that..." Matt's voice trailed off and he finally met Mello's eyes.

"No," Mello tried to dismiss the thought as if it hadn't even occurred to him. "Maybe she _did_ realize that someone was in her apartment, and is trying to lay low and watch her back."

"You don't believe that," Matt saw through him.

"I don't know what happened," Mello decided to stick to saying things that were completely true. "She's probably in hiding. If she was dead, they would have found her body."

"Would they tell us if a teacher committed suicide?" Matt pointed out.

 _No, but I have access to all information that the school has on the case._

"They'd tell us that she's dead," Mello stated. "In the least they'd say she quit her job."

"I hope you're right."

They had reached the lunch hall now.

"Are you still mad?" Mello chanced asking.

"You're kind of an idiot," Matt didn't answer the question. "And you should have listened to me."

"Okay."

"And I'm not going to ask you to apologize," Matt continued. "Because I know you wouldn't mean a word of it."

"Yeah." Mello felt a sinking in his stomach that he didn't understand.

"So I'm going to put it behind me," Matt wore the expression that a disappointed parent would. "Just know that, even though it ended up helping you, I was the one who was right."

This caught him off guard. It was true that he did think Matt was intelligent and respected him, but he had not expected his roommate to read so much into his own thought pattern. This was unsettling, especially since the only person able to do this before was Near (and only because he was an emotionless git bent on observing anything he deemed important). Mello didn't want someone to know him well enough to have the ability to see through what thoughts he did try to hide. Being a rather emotional person, it had taken Mello effort and practice to get to the state where he was to able hide what he needed to. How did his happy-go-lucky roommate see through him so effortlessly?

"Okay—" Mello started.

"Don't agree with me," Mail chided him. "Because I know that you don't mean it. Just, keep what I said in mind, okay?"

Mello nodded.

"Thanks."

Mello nodded again.

"You can talk now," Matt said slowly.

They both laughed.

Mello felt a dim heat on his face, but tried to push it away. He didn't blush at anything, and he definitely was not going to for no reason. What was wrong with him?

By now they had arrived at their usual lunch table. Light was already there, he nodded at the two of them but his attention was on the cellphone he had pressed to his ear. Mello assumed that it was Misa he was talking to, but vaguely hoped that it was the mystery boyfriend. He was looking forward to an opportunity to embarrass Light while he talked to the guy.

"No," Light said into the phone. His annoyed but patient expression proved that it was Misa he was talking to. "What about a fire?"

This caught Mello's attention.

"You're sure?" Light paused, Mello could tell that he was listening intently. "No, I can't get the newspaper on weekdays…I'm sure you're perfectly safe…Well, don't play with matches, for one…Sorry, bad joke…Look, I have to go…Bye, Misa."

Light ended the call and stuck his phone into his bag.

"That was Misa," he told the two of them.

"We got that," Matt blandly assured him.

"Apparently there was a fire at the post office Saturday night," Light continued.

"Really?" Mello made himself look vaguely interested. "Anyone die?"

"Yes, actually." Light looked at Mello the way that a principal would look at a student who had received several demerits.

"Oh," Mello's eyes met the surface of the table. "Anyone we know?"

"The body wasn't identified," Light said bitterly. "But apparently that person broke into the building to set fire to it. The back office was completely destroyed, but since the walls are stone the flames stayed in that room."

"The first time anyone was grateful for the historical preservation laws," Matt muttered.

"So it was suicide?" Mello clarified, the hair on the back of his neck prickled.

"It was arson," Light corrected, but his expression showed that he was following Mello's thought process. "But I guess you could say that as well."

It could have been someone from the school. Yet this was definitely out of the killer's style. Every death so far had been portrayed almost perfectly as a suicide, leaving little room to doubt what really happened. This instance was vague, and left the victim unrecognizable. He supposed he'd have to find out if the murder had left anything to allude to one of the student's being the found body, or if any of the students mysteriously disappeared.

Mello nearly fell out of his chair at the realization.

"Are you alright?" Matt was staring at him. "You look kind of pale."

 _I'm going to be sick,_ Mello did not confess out loud.

"I need a moment," he stammered.

With that Mello ran from the lunch hall. Instead of heading in the direction of his and Matt's room, he took a quick detour to one of the buildings he was not aloud to enter. Sneaking into Ms. Seto's room was harder than it had been on Saturday when no one was around. If he was caught, he planned to say that he had a question on the homework he didn't think the substitute could answer and wanted to see if Ms. Seto was up to explaining it to him.

The room was locked the way that it had been before, but it only took Mello a minute and an overused bobby pin to get inside. This time he was in even more of a hurry, and didn't have time to look around at everything. Instead he went straight to her dining counter. He noticed the absence of car keys, but that was not what he was looking for. On Saturday, he had purposely left the door of the right cabinet under the counter open. This was a test to make sure that Ms. Seto knew that someone unwelcome had been in her room. After noticing he was almost positive that she would close it, for her room was kept clean and he didn't know anyone who wouldn't close the annoying door.

Right now, the cabinet was still wide open.

* * *

The murderer had hoped that there was a spy. This would only make his job easier. The problem was that it had taken too much of his time to find out that there was one in the first place. Now he knew for sure. His source had confirmed it.

Until recently he hadn't worked with other people. This sort of game was only fun if you earned a solo victory. But in order to get what he needed he found that he would have to sacrifice some pleasure.

The source was the first ally who's trust he'd had to win. Bribery was below him, but in the end it wouldn't matter. He'd get what he wanted because of this inconvenience.

At the moment the spy was not a threat. He planned to keep it that way. He planned to end it that way.

* * *

"You think it's her, don't you?" Matt asked upon entering their room.

Mello was sprawled out on the bed, computer in front of him and three bars of chocolate to his left. Matt must have waited until after lunch had ended to come after him. This he was grateful for. Mello didn't need Matt to see his freak out while it was still in it's pre-chocolate stage.

"He must have found out that she was onto him," he explained. "So he killed her before she could tell the police."

"She's only been missing for a day," Matt tried to remind him.

"Two days," Mello corrected. "And not only missing, she never came back after Saturday."

He told Matt about the cabinet.

"This doesn't prove anything," Matt said, but his tone wavered.

"It proves that she didn't come back to her room," Mello said. "She left for a night and a day, missing a day of her job without any warning in the process. Either he was onto her and got rid of her, or she's hiding from that exact fate."

Mello paused and took another bite of chocolate to further collect his thoughts.

"Matt," he started. "You were right when you said I was too rash."

"I said you didn't have to—"

"I'm not apologizing." He cut him off. "Well, I'm not apologizing for searching the apartment, or for going back today for that matter. But I am apologizing for dragging you into this, because, I guess I'm only fully realizing it now, but…we could die."

 _I might be in over my head._

"I know," Matt's certainty caught him off guard.

It was only now that Mello realized how little he knew about the boy who's help he had enlisted. Sure, the majority of what Matt knew about him were lies, but Mello had expected to be a closed book to everyone he met at this place. The fact that the roommate he happened to get was the second (first if you didn't count the sociopathic genius that was Near) person to acknowledge Mello's emotional walls was something he had not bargained for. He knew that he trusted Matt, but originally this had only been because he knew Matt had no reason to betray or hurt him.

"Matt?" Mello's voice dropped to a softer tone. "Why are you doing this?"

"I don't know," Matt shrugged and walked to the desk chair. "Because I'm bored."

"You play video games because you're bored," Mello dismissed this answer.

"Because I'm scared I could be one of the victims," Matt tried.

"So you put yourself in even more danger," Mello looked at him pointedly. "I want a real answer."

"Because of you," Matt's eye's traced his shoes.

"What?"

"You were so determined when you first brought up the subject," he explained. "I guess you kind of drew me in."

Mello didn't know what to say to this.

"I don't regret it," Matt added. "I feel like we're making a difference, or that we're about to."

"Yeah," Mello contemplated Matt's words. "You know I didn't have a lot of friends back home."

"That doesn't surprise me," Matt smirked.

"Stop being cheeky, I'm trying to say something meaningful," Mello faked frustration.

"Why don't we skip the sappy stuff and find out if Ms. Seto is really dead?" Matt suggested.

"Good plan."

* * *

Raito closed Jenson's file. After pouring over it, and only coming out with the fact that the boy had been severely depressed (maybe suicidal on his own) and had a girlfriend that he didn't know how to stop talking about. He had used his belt to kill himself. The fact that the belt had been a gift from the parents could have been the killer's attempt to frame the death on family issues. However, it also could have been because there was no convenient and assumable way for Jenson to have gotten rope.

Raito opened the file of the second victim. He made a mental note to ask L for access to Smith's emails as well. In the meantime, he looked over the notes that he had initially. Once there was the smallest speculation that Smith had been murdered, every detail of the death seemed to point to it.

The first tip off was the note. Raito was not an expert on suicidal teenagers, but he knew that the phrase the killer had scrawled (or forced Smith to write) was an accurate generalization of why to end it all. Raito hated saying that the only thing making something suspicious was the fact that it wasn't, but the note clearly had no depth to it.

The next oddity was the murder weapon. Why would the killer use a knife that could easily be identified as not belonging to the boy? If Raito had been in the murderer's position, he would have used one of a razor blades from the shaving kit Smith's roommate kept in the bathroom. He looked over a picture of the weapon, again taking note of the faded initials. The A was written above the S, and smudged dot separating the two letters.

Smith's roommate had been the most cooperative when talking to the police during their investigation. The boy had never broached the subject of murder, but hadn't wanted anyone who heard about the suicides to get the wrong idea about his friend. The notes from the interview that had been conducted with the roommate weren't the most descriptive, but it gave Raito a clear idea of what the boy's attitude was.

"He was a little down the past few days," the roommate had said in the interview. "But that wasn't like him. He was usually a happy-go-lucky bloke."

Raito looked at the note again.

"There's no point anymore. I'm sorry. A." He read out loud to himself. No point to what? If Smith wasn't depressed this didn't make any sense.

Sighing, Raito directed to his computer screen which now displayed Smith's personal information. His eyes glazed over name and birthday on their way to finding family economical stance, but comically froze and zipped back to the line displaying Smith's full name.

Adam Samuel Smith.

Adam _Samuel_ Smith.

"Samuel," Raito whispered. "Sam."

Everything clicked into place.

* * *

Misa hated working at night. The town was small and she liked the community, but that didn't mean that she felt comfortable walking alone through the darks streets. The distance between her apartment and her job was far enough of her to be dreadfully uneasy by the time she reached it. Usually she was able to bare through this, but this time her photo shoot had ran exceeding late, and by the time she was ready to go home it was midnight. All of her male coworkers were headed in a different direction as her, and none of them were chivalrous enough to go out of their way to walk her home.

"Jerks," she muttered to herself, missing home more than ever. She pulled her cellphone out of her purse and called the one person who might help her out.

"Misa," Raito didn't sound like he wanted to talk.

"Can I ask a big, big favor?" Her voice was nearing pouty, but she reminded herself that this wouldn't work on Raito.

"I'm kind of busy." She heard him sigh. "What is it?"

"I'm stranded," she said. "My photo shoot just got done, and it's really creepy outside, and Misa doesn't want to walk home alone."

"You realize that Lowood isn't exactly near where you work," he sounded more tired than irritated.

"Sorry," she knew she was pouting now.

"No, it's not your fault you're stuck," he sighed again. "I'm leaving now. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thank you!" She exclaimed into the phone.

"Yeah." He hung up.

By the time Raito arrived, the only other people in the building were the janitors. He didn't look as vexed or tired as he had over the phone, but Misa understood that she had just asked him to go completely out of his way to help her. If she hadn't known that he was gay she would have taken that as a sign that he had feelings for her.

"Thank you!" she said to him again, flinging her arms around his shoulder in a sloppy hug.

"You're welcome," he said as he disentangled from her.

They started walking, Misa leading the way because Raito had never been to her apartment before.

"You're not still freaked out about the fire are you?" He wondered. She remembered how she had called him in a panic when someone at work had told her about what happened.

"No, it's not that," she honestly answered. "I just don't like being outside at night by myself."

She was relieved when he didn't push the subject.

"Why did you tell Michael about my boyfriend?" His voice wasn't resentful, but she could tell that he hadn't wanted his school friend to know.

"Misa's just happy that Raito is in love," she giggled. "She had to tell someone."

"Talking in third person is not half as cute as you think it is," he pointed out flatly.

"Raito is a meanie," she huffed, but wasn't genuinely offended.

"I'm just saying," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Just because you don't think I'm cute, doesn't mean that I'm not," she crossed her arms.

"I didn't say that you're not cute," he tried to amend his speech. "I just said that the way you were talking wasn't cute."

"Same difference."

"Is there anyway for me to win this conversation?" He asked.

"Nope," she beamed at him.

"You remind me so much of Sayu," he laughed.

Misa knew that this was his littler sister. If he had said this to her a few days prior, she might have been offended or maybe even heartbroken. Now she had to remind herself that she was not pursuing Raito. He wasn't single and he didn't even like girls. Why was fate so unfair to her?

"How's Sayu doing?" she asked absentmindedly.

"She seemed fine the last time she called me," Raito answered.

"Does Sayu know about your boyfriend?" Misa wondered.

Raito paused before answering this.

"No. I haven't told my family," he said this solemnly.

"I'm sorry I told Michael," she said sheepishly.

"That's alright," he brushed off.

They were walking through a side street when it happened.

Misa wasn't paying much attention to her surrounding, she could easily walk to her apartment on autopilot. Raito seemed to be more alert, but this didn't mean that he was ready for what happened next. Misa was talking, and she was vaguely aware that Raito wasn't really listening to her. She twirled one of her pigtails as she spoke.

The man with the kitchen knife seemed to come out of no where. Raito later explained to Misa that he must have been following them, and hiding in side alleyways to avoid being seem. However, at the time Misa felt like he had just appeared behind them.

Before leaving Japan, she had taken a self defense class that had taught her how to react to this sort of situation. Everything that she had learned dissolved from her mind the second that her eyes met the knife in the man's hand. Her throat and mouth dried, preventing a scream from escaping her.

Raito started shouting something that Misa's panicked brain could not make sense of, but there was no one around to hear him. The side street was devoid of people, and lined with closed shops instead of houses. The next few seconds were the most frighteningly eventful of her short life.

The stranger waisted no time charging the pair with his weapon ready. In this millisecond, Misa realized that she was the one that his knife was aimed at. She was about to die, and she could not move to stop it. She could not will herself out of her shock.

Raito was faster than the stranger, stepping in front of Misa and swinging a punch at their attacker's face. The knife slashed over Raito's arm as he delivered this blow, making contact with his right shoulder. Misa heard a sickening ripping sound, as it tore through more than just his shirt. Only now did a useless cry escape her lips.

Their attacker recovered from Raito's punch with in seconds, but Raito was not as fortunate. Misa watched him hiss and clutch at his wound, blood dripping through his fingers. Their attacker lunged at him, but Misa flung herself between the two of them. She vainly tried to push the man away, but he shoved off her feet with little effort. Raito went for another punch, but the pain that he was in slowed him down. The man knocked Raito on the head with the blunt wooden end of the knife. Raito fell gracelessly to the ground, torso landing atop Misa's legs. Misa didn't have time to wonder why he hadn't just killed her friend, for the man's attention was now fixed on her. Both fear and the weight of Raito prevented her from standing up. Not that there was anything she could have done. The street was narrow, and she doubted that she could outrun the man with the knife.

He loomed over her, a crazed look glazed over his eyes. The firm realization that she was about to be murdered by someone she did not even know settled in her heart like an iron rock. She felt tears prick her eyelids, but didn't have the time to let them spill. She winced, letting her eyes close, as the stranger leaned towards her, knife (still dripping with Raito's blood) raised at her terrified face.

She waited for the impact, the pain, and then the nauseating darkness, but none of this came. A strangled cry met her ears and curiosity forced her eyes open. The man staggered away from her, clutching his heart as if he himself had been stabbed. Sweat broke across the man's brow as he gasped for one last breath.

Misa watched as the man who had been about to kill her collapsed in a still heap. She stared, not knowing what to think. Was he dead? What on earth had just happened?

Her confusion was broken, when her gazed trailed down to the unconscious boy on top of her. Just looking at the dark red stain growing on Raito's shoulder was enough to make her light headed. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, moving as quickly as her shaking hands would allow. She dialed 999, waiting only a second to speak with an emergency operator. Her quivering voice spilled the cliffnotes of what had just happened. She was assured by the calm voice on the other line that help was on the way.

Misa tucked the phone away. She decided to focus on breathing calmly as she waited for the ambulance and police to arrive. Her eyes had fluttered closed, only to be startled open by a soft thud next to her. Expecting another form of danger, she immediately tensed. When her eyes met a black notebook, she felt her features relax. Gingerly she reached for it, foolishly looking up as if to see where it had come from. Her fingers turned the cover, and she read the scrawled notes on the first page.

 _The human whose name is written in this note shall die._

Confusion muddled her thoughts as she continued to read. Her gaze stopped with astonishment at the fourth rule.

 _If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack._

"Oh my God," her eyes darted to the crumpled body of their attacker.

She heard sound of an ambulance approaching, and stuffed the notebook into her purse. Not knowing for sure what she was going to do with it.

* * *

The first thing that Raito registered was a dull pain in his right shoulder. The rest of him felt numb and heavy, but uninjured. Thought of what had happened before he blacked out slowly drifted into clarity. There were voices around him that he tried to distinguish. He kept his eyes shut until he recognized one of them as Misa's.

The blonde noticed that he was awake instantly, mumbling thanks to the doctor that she had been speaking to in her limited English. Raito surveyed his surroundings. The gray walls of the hospital room were enough to make him uneasy. Ever since he was a child, hospitals had always made him anxious. He turned his head to inspect his shoulder, which was wrapped in thick bandages. He vaguely wondered if he needed stitches (or if it had already been stitched while he was unconscious).

"How do you feel?" Misa sat down on a chair next to his bed, concern etched over her pretty face.

"Groggy," he answered honestly. "What happened?"

"Someone tried to kill us," tears formed in Misa's eyes.

"Did you know him?" Raito couldn't stop himself from jumping on the question.

This could be linked to the murders. Maybe their attacker was the murderer and he had hoped to kill Raito first and then set it up to look like he had committed suicide. Raito had always thought that the murders took place in the victim's rooms, but it was possible that this was connected.

"No," Misa shook her head. "The police said that maybe another model hired him. Someone who saw me as competition."

"Wait," Raito mentally replayed being knocked unconscious. "How did he…stop?"

"I don't know," Misa bit her lip. "He just collapsed. He knocked you out, and was going to kill me, then he just fell down and stopped breathing."

"That's odd," Raito couldn't think of a better word to describe it.

"I think it was fate," Misa whispered.

"Yeah," Raito had always hated that word but didn't want to say anything that would distress the poor girl more. "Misa, do you think you could give me a minute alone. I want to call Ryuzaki."

"Of course," she nodded, and produced his cell phone from her purse. "They didn't want you to have anything in your pockets. I have your keys and wallet too."

"You can give me those later," he told her.

He waited until she left to room before selecting L's contact. The detective picked up on the third ring. Raito knew that he probably expected it to be an emergency, and Raito felt that, even though he was currently out of harm's way, the attack counted as such.

"Raito-kun?" L's voice didn't reveal any emotion.

"I'm alright now," he started. "But I'm in the hospital."

He explained to L what had happened. The detective listened mutely, leaving Raito completely in the dark as to what he was thinking.

"Do you know when exactly you were attacked?" L asked once Raito was finished talking.

"A little over an hour past midnight," Raito informed him. "Why?"

"Two of your classmates were found dead three hours ago," L said solemnly. "The time of death was reported as around the same as your attack."

"Does that mean—"

"I do not know what it means," L's voice was stone cold as he cut Raito off. "You said that the man who attacked you died?"

"According to my friend," Raito answered.

"I'll look into what your hospital has on him," L decided.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" Raito didn't want L to think of him as useless or vulnerable.

"Recuperate," L answered dryly.

"I want to help," Raito tried again.

"You are no use to me injured," L informed him.

"Oh." Raito felt like he had somehow let the detective down. The last thing that he wanted was for L to think that he was unable to handle this investigation.

He heard L sigh.

"Raito, I'm worried not disappointed." L seemed unaware that he had dropped the honorific.

"I don't need you to baby me," Raito blurted before he could restrain himself. "I'm not going to let this slow me down.

"You were stabbed," L emphasized each word, his voice heavy.

"In the shoulder," he tried to argue.

"Had your attacker not miraculously died, we would not be having this conversation." L's tone was more authoritative than Raito had ever heard it, and he had listened to the man give orders to the NPA (granted, he had been using a voice disguiser at that time). "I was the one who placed you in this situation, now I am going to take the steps needed to protect you."

"I knew what I was getting into," Raito muttered.

"That doesn't matter," L dismissed. "If I told you to jump off a cliff, you'd probably do it."

"No I wouldn't," Raito huffed vainly.

"I knew you would take this case, and I knew that it was dangerous." L continued as if Raito had not spoken. "At the time I had not taken into consideration the possibility that you would be targeted so easily. I don't expect you to give up because of your injury, I know that you're far too prideful for that, but I will demand that you take the time to heel before doing anything that will endanger yourself again. That includes walking alone in the middle of the night."

"I'm not a child," Raito exclaimed. "You wanted me on this case. You trust me enough to let me hear your voice. You may not think I'm your equal mentally, but you did admitted that I'm the closes person you've come across."

L didn't speak for almost half a minute.

"You are a child," his voice was soft now, but that didn't prevent the infuriation that these words caused. "However, you're right that you are the first person that I've met to match me mentally. You're also the first friend that I've ever had, so forgive me if you feel that I am overly concerned about your safety."

Raito was glad that L could not see him, for he was nearly gaping at his phone. A warm feeling that he couldn't quite explain settled in his chest.

"But," he stammered. "We've never even talked face to face."

"I've kept my identity hidden for your sake as well as my own." L didn't seem offended. "Yet, I enjoy talking to Raito-kun wether or not he knows what I look like."

"I'll be more careful," Raito heard himself submitting to L's side of the argument. "And I'll take a few days to rest."

"In the hospital," L instructed. "We both know how safe your school is."

"Fine," Raito sighed. "By the way, I'm not _that_ prideful."

"Yes you are," L chuckled. "That's how you remind me of myself."

Raito felt a smile tease his lips.

"I'm going to look into what we know about your attacker," L informed him.

"Bye," Raito said before the detective hung up on him.

* * *

As L had expected, the autopsy reports of the man that had attacked Raito and his friend were not yet entered into the hospital's database. He didn't think the police would have any finalized information yet, but, being L, he was capable of speeding up this process. A quick email stating that this assault was relevant to the Lowood suicides gave him access to pictures of evidence and the witness statement given by Raito's friend. He by passed the statement, deciding that he'd go back to it if needed.

The first picture that he went over was the one of the would-be-murder weapon. The knife must have been taken from the man's kitchen, this gave L doubts that the man had been hired to kill Raito's friend. Surely if this was an assassination, he would have used a more thorough and harder to trace weapon. It was possible that the knife was new, bought for the occasion, but this was hard to tell due to the blood it was coated in.

Raito's blood.

The thought brought a sickening feeling to L's stomach. Instinctively, he took another bite of his cake, hoping that the sweet taste would dull his guilt. He willed away thoughts of Raito lying on the side walk, bleeding through his excessively ironed shirt. He absentmindedly placed his thumb between his teeth after swallowing the cake. Closing the image of the kitchen knife, L clicked on the next picture.

He froze as his eyes met the killer's lifeless face. Even through the pale and stiff expression that all dead bodies assumed, L recognized that face. His mouth dried, but he didn't stop himself from biting harder on his thumb.

How had this not occurred to him before?

At that moment the phone that he given Raito the number to started ringing. Slightly alarmed, but seriously doubtful that the boy was in danger again so soon, L answered.

"It's not an emergency," Raito skipped saying 'hello.' "I just remembered something that I had been meaning to tell you about the suicides."

"Go on," L urged him.

"The first two victims knew each other," Raito started. "Actually, they more than just knew each other, they were in love."

"They were in a relationship?" L wasn't expecting this.

"Yeah." He could see Raito nodding in his mind's eye. "And it's true that the knife used to kill Smith didn't belong to him. It was Jenson's. The writing wasn't Adam Smith's initials, A dot S, it was _their_ initials, A plus S."

"But Jenson's name started with an 'H,' " L pointed out.

"Not his middle name," Raito countered. "Hadley Aaron Jenson. Neither of them were out about their relationship or sexuality, so they referred to each other by their middle names. It was their code."

"That could mean that Smith's note—"

"Didn't end with his signature," Raito cut L off in his excitement. "It wasn't 'I'm sorry. Signed A.' it was 'I'm sorry, A.' "

L heard Raito take a breath, but the boy stopped talking there.

"Is that all?" L knew it was not.

"The thing is," Raito sounded uncertain now. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that these were genuine suicides. It makes perfect sense, when you look at all the facts. Jenson was sent away from home on his parent's request. This must have been because they thought time away that environment, perhaps even away from a lover they caught him with, would 'cure' his sexuality. At Lowood he meets Smith, they fall in love (or at least it's love on Smith's end) and for a little bit things are great. Then Jenson realizes that, no matter what happens with Smith, his parents are never going to accept who he is. One night he decides he can't take it and sends an email to his sister about how terrible his life is. Then he hangs himself with the belt his parents gave him as one final act of spite."

"I assume Smith is distraught over this," L spoke up.

"Exactly," Raito confirmed. "he's heartbroken, maybe even blames himself. After three days of misery, he can't take it anymore and scribbles a final apology to his dead lover, before cutting himself with the knife secretly given to him by Jenson."

"Yes," L's own voice sounded distant. "That would makes sense."

If all of this was an elaborate cover constructed by the killer, it was well done. It made murder look flawlessly like suicide. Or…

This confirmed it.

"Raito, you remember what I said about resting?" L asked the boy he was still on the phone with.

"Yes," Raito sighed.

"Forget it," L instructed. "I'm coming to Lowood. As soon as I have a hotel room, I will tell you how to get there and expect you to meet me."

"L, what is going on?" Raito questioned. "Your attitude just made a complete three-sixty."

"Something very, very bad is going on," was all the answer L could give.

* * *

 **Last night I had a fangirl attack when I found out about Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's new manga.**

 **Hopefully some of what happened in this chapter was a surprise. I'm interested in knowing what your guys thoughts on Misa's Note and Jenson and Smith.**

 **Reviews:**

 **To everyone who made predictions on the identity of Seto and the killer, I'm not going to say if you're right or wrong (even though it's kinda obvious by the end of this chapter) only because I plan to next chapter. However, I will say that I try to make small details significant and Seto's fake name is a clue in itself.**

 **Cyinamas, yup Light is definitely "pretending" to be gay. I'm happy you liked Seto. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of strong girl character in the cannon, therefore there aren't may in this story. So I wanted her to be cool even though she was only here for a few chapters.**

 **Wizard-Party-Forever, I'm glad you're liking Misa. I always felt that the fandom was too hard on her, especially in LxLight fics, when she's actually a fun character.**

 **no account, thanks for the prediction!**

 **Bluxpudding, thanks for the review! It might take a bit for them to find out about the letter, mainly because I like to make this as hard for L, Light, and Mello as I can. (I'm evil!)**

 **Lala the Screaming Fangirl, in this fic Matt didn't go to Wammy's House. He and Mello met for the first time at Lowood.**

 **The more reviews the more enthusiast I am to update, just saying. See ya next chapter!**


	7. Chapter Seven

Despite the fear and adrenaline now pumping through Raito's veins, he decided that his best course of action at the moment would be to follow L's previous advice and rest until L contacted him. After sleeping for a little over four hours, he was admitted from the hospital. If there was ever a good excuse to take a day off a school, this was it. Raito spent the next two hours laying in his room an staring at the ceiling. Misa called him once, but he ended that interaction shortly, saying that he needed to get some sleep. Mello also called his phone several times, but these he ignored.

When L contacted him with the hotel information it was mid day. Raito waited five minutes before leaving. He didn't want to sneak off the campus during a passing period. If he had tried to it was likely that he would run into someone he knew who would then ask him why he wasn't in class that morning and what had happened to his bandaged shoulder. Anticipating a reaction from L regarding the injury, Raito shrugged a sturdy jacket on to conceal it.

The Continor was one of the few hotels in a vicinity. Luckily for Raito, it was not very far from the school. No one tried to stop him from walking straight through the lobby and up the stairs (there was no elevator) despite how apparent it was that he did not belong there. L's room was on the second floor, so the walk did not tire the already fatigued Raito very much. For the sake of formality, he knocked on the door of room two-twenty-seven although he was not expecting a reply.

"It's unlocked." The familiar voice caught him off guard.

If L was using a recording device to talk to Raito the way he had their last meeting, it's projection would not have been loud enough to be heard through the door. Did that mean that L himself was in that room? There had to be some sort of catch to this. Raito opened the door and stepped inside.

This room was not unlike that of the hotel in Japan. It was smaller and far less fancy, but there was a coffee table and four cushioned chairs in the center of the room. Sitting on the chair facing the door, in plan sight, was a pale man with raven colored hair.

"Raito," the voice that Raito come to know so well came from his man's lips. "Please close the door."

"Right," Raito stammered, turning his back slightly to do so.

There was a hint of a smile on the man's lips, probably because this was the second time that Raito had neglected to initiate their privacy by closing the door to the room. The man didn't speak after, so Raito took the next few seconds to look him over. He took in the heavy circles under the dark wide eyes. Those contrasted greatly with the wan skin resembling that of a china doll. His clothes were basic, only a baggy white shirt and faded bluejeans. The man sat with his knees pulled to his chest, and his back hunched. He reminded Raito of a child. Only after this realization did Raito wonder at the man's age. He didn't look to be much older than Raito, not nearly old enough to be who Raito had to believe he was.

"You're L." Raito stated, more to himself than to the man siting across from him.

"I am L," he confirmed.

"I don't understand." This wasn't fully true, but Raito knew that L revealing his identity to him wasn't a blind act of trust. Something happened that forced L's hand, and Raito doubted that it was him being attacked earlier that day.

"Sit down," L instructed.

Raito complied.

"I told you something bad was happening," L reminded him.

"Yes," Ratio remembered.

"It regards the Lowood case," L added. "It seems I've been very foolish for the past few months."

"Could I have a less cryptic explanation?" Raito shrewdly asked. "I know that if whatever's going on is bad enough for you to show your face to anyone, then the both of us should be very scared."

"Correct."

"And when you first gave me the case you said that you couldn't spare the time to come here yourself," Raito remembered. "Because of another, more important case."

"Yes." The short answers were starting to wear on Raito's justly high nerves.

"Well?" He put as much pressure into his tone as he could.

"I will tell you everything, but I don't enjoy repeating myself," L explained. "We'll have to wait until Mello arrives before I go into any details."

"Mello?" Raito was surprised. "You're telling Mello that we've been working on his case?"

"I have to." L was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Speak of the devil. You may enter, Mello!"

Raito watched the door swing open and the blond enter confidently. This ceased when his eyes fell on Ratio. Momentary surprise was cooled with an calm irritation as his eyes shifted to L. Raito watched the boy look the man up and down, taking in the same information that he himself had moments before. This proved his theory that this was Mello's first meeting with L as well as his own. Once Mello seemed to deem his mentor worthy, his gaze traveled back to Raito.

"What is he doing here?" The question was directed at L.

"Does no one understand the importance of closing the door to my hotel room," L drawled.

Mello mutely slammed the door and turned the thumb lock.

"Raito-kun works for me," L answered Mello's question.

Raito felt slightly embarrassed.

"You sent him here to spy on me?" Mello asked, voice toxic with anger.

"Not necessarily," L drew out the statement, apparently not reading any of Mello's emotions.

"He didn't want you on this case," Raito explained for the detective. "But the people who work for him—he didn't tell me their names—sent you to Lowood without telling him."

"Wammy went behind your back?" Mello asked skeptically.

"I am as astonished as you are," L said flatly. "Raito's here because I didn't have the time to solve this case on my own. His job is to find out what he could while keeping an eye on you."

"So you've solved it then?" Mello concluded. "That's why you weren't in class today and why you're telling me all of this, right?"

"No," Raito told him. "I don't think I was even close."

"Raito-kun's absence was due to the fact that he was stabbed this morning," L added.

Raito wondered if L's intention was to aggravate both himself and Mello.

"You were?" The smallest degree of concern flashed in Mello's eyes.

"I'm surprised Misa didn't tell you," Raito sighed. "I was walking her home and a man attacked us with a kitchen knife."

"Is she okay?" Mello interrupted.

"Yeah," Raito answered. "She's not hurt at all."

"Their assailant died of a heart attack before he could kill her," L seemed to want to be in control of the conversation. "And Raito is pretending that the wound on his shoulder is minimal by concealing it."

Raito bit back a peeved response.

"I don't know why we're here," Raito told the blonde. "L said that he would explain once you arrived."

"Mello, sit down," L ordered. "Standing displays your aggressive nature too much for my liking."

Raito rolled his eyes as Mello sat down at the coffee table.

"Well?" Raito looked to L.

"Raito have you ever heard of the Los Angelus BB Murders? Mello I know that you're generally aware of what happened." L started with.

"No," Raito confessed. "Should I have?"

"I can't see why," L said. "But it's important for both of you to know the details of that case before I tell you anymore of what I strongly believe is happening at Lowood."

"Because you think they're connected?"

"Because they _are_ connected. The killer at Lowoood and back then are one and the same." L's voice was dark. "The killer is B."

* * *

Mello listened intently as L explained the details of the case that had interested him the most. He had never been told the entire story, and L told him that this was mainly because he had wanted to be the one to tell it when Mello was ready to meet him. Mello chose to take this as a good thing, instead of hearing the darker meaning of it. He didn't want to think that L feared he would turn into what Beyond Birthday had.

"Thanks to Misora, the case wrapped up nicely," L concluded. "Unfortunately, a few months ago Beyond escaped from the asylum holding him along with four other inmates."

L produced a laptop from under his chair. Mello didn't bother asking why L hadn't just put the device on the table to begin with. The screen displayed the picture of a thin man.

"One of which was caught and killed attempting a robbery not too long ago. Two we have not found, but I don't doubt that at least one of them is behind the string of murders that I assumed Beyond was committing." L pressed the space bar and the screen switched to another image. "Raito-kun, you should recognize this one."

"That's the man who attacked Misa and I," Light Yagami confirmed.

L nodded, and minimized the picture. The computer screen changed to a folder of images that L had must have deemed important to the case. Mello's eye caught a small image of a Japanese woman with long hair in the corner of this file.

"Wait," he nearly lunged at the computer.

"What?" L didn't move to snatch it away, instead he let Mello take it with a curios expression.

Mello clicked on the picture. His heart jumped into his throat.

"Who is this?" He heard his voice ask.

"Naomi Misora," he was dimly aware of the intense stare he was receiving from L and the worried look Light was sending him.

"I know her," Mello knew that this was obvious to both of them given his behavior.

His eyes didn't leave the image of a slightly younger and far less tired version of Ms. Seto.

"She's here?" L wondered, pleasant surprise filling his voice.

"She's dead," Mello's voice was soft.

"What?" Light spoke now.

"She's missing," Mello corrected himself. "But I think she's dead."

Mello looked at L, who bit the end of his right thumb. Mello took this as a sign to continue, and told L and Light about how he had suspected and investigated Misora.

"The FBI isn't involved in this case, it's not on their ground. But that wouldn't matter, she retired due to her engagement recently. She must have some how known that this was Beyond," L murmured, his expression was distant. "I'll look into it."

"I was looking into it," Mello informed him. "I could continue if you'd—"

"No," L snapped back to present. "I need both of you to leave Lowood. It was Beyond's goal to catch my attention, and it is likely that he knowns he already has it. Raito-kun's attack may have been because Beyond suspects you are a spy for me. I want the both of you out of the country until this ordeal is over."

Mello felt fury and injustice rise within him. After telling him all of that, was L really going to send him out of harm and excitement's way? He couldn't just do nothing. What about Matt? He couldn't use this as a means to convince L, but Mello knew that his roommate would never forgive him should he up and leave.

"No," Light's voice broke through Mello's rage-filled thoughts. "I'm not going anywhere, L, and I don't think Mello wants to leave either."

"I can't protect the both of you from—"

"Okay," Light cut him off. "We understand, but this is not your decision."

Light glanced at Mello for back up.

"He's right," the blonde stated dumbly. His surprise at Light having the gall to defy L rendered him momentary speechless.

"Besides," a smirk played on Light's lips. "You still need a man on the inside. You'll solve the case faster if I'm here, and you know it."

Mello readied himself for L's set in stone counter argument, but it never came.

"Very well. But from this point forward I need the both of you to do exactly as I say." Light opened his mouth to speak, but L continued. "And, no Raito-kun, that does not mean 'exactly as I say within reason.' I need your full agreement to follow my orders or I will send you back to Japan with or without your consent."

Light look mildly annoyed.

"Deal," he told the detective. "Mello?"

"Yeah," Mello nodded. "I'll listen."

"Good," a shallow smile found it's way to L's face. "Then, we have work to do."

* * *

When Mello entered his room, Matt jumped up from the desk chair. The redhead was clearly startled but his expression was one of relief. Mello realized that maybe he should have told his friend that he was blowing off half of his classes for the day.

"Where have you been?" Matt demanded.

"Nowhere, Mother," Mello smirked and sat down on his bed. He used the shrug off as a chance to think of a good excuse.

"Earlier today you declared that Ms. Seto was murdered because the killer found out she was an investigator," Matt's tone was tight. "Then you disappear for half of the day."

"I'm sorry," Mello donned his best attempt at a guilty expression. "I just couldn't take everything. I needed a few hours to be alone."

"Oh," Matt looked taken aback. "Next time you do that, tell me so I don't jump to the conclusion that you're lying dead somewhere."

"Can I ask you something?" Mello didn't care that he was abruptly changing the subject. "If your parents knew the extent of the deaths, if they knew that you think the suicides were murder, would they pull you out of Lowood?"

"Any parent would," Matt shrugged, he crossed the room to sit down next to Mello.

"I mean it," Mello didn't need to try to make his voice serious. "If you called them right now and told them that you are afraid for your life, would they let you come home."

"Yes," Matt seemed to see what Mello was getting at. "Why? Do you think we should leave?"

Mello sighed. He didn't want to have this conversation, but everything L had told him was burned in his memory. Matt's involvement remained Mello's secret, partly because he knew that L and Light would not have approved of him involving someone else. But, even if no one knew that Matt was helping with the case, Mello's presence still made him a target. For some odd, confusing reason, Mello did not want to be the reason why anything happened to this boy.

 _I care about you, Matt._ He didn't voice this. _I do love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?_

Cutting off his mental Shakespeare reference, he turned back to convincing Matt to leave.

"It's like I said earlier," he tried. "We're in danger, we're in over our heads."

"Would you leave?" Matt cut him off. "If I left would you leave?"

"Yes."

"No you wouldn't," Matt told him. "You'd stay and be in even more danger because you don't have me to tell you when you're going to far."

"It's not like I listen to you," Mello muttered.

"I know you don't," Matt said with a hint of melancholy. "So, in return, I'm not going to listen to you."

"Matt—"

"If I left knowing you were still here, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself," Matt continued. "I don't expect you to understand."

"I do understand," Mello voiced, surprising himself. Matt turned his head to look him in he eyes, and Mello felt a heat creep in his face. "I just figured it was worth a shot."

"To get rid of me?" Matt joked.

"Yeah," Mello attempted a humored tone.

"That's not going to happen," Matt smiled shyly. "You can try all you like, but I'm not going anywhere."

Mello felt his heart speeding up. It was becoming increasingly harder for him to breath. The only thing that he could focus on was the fact that Matt was sitting less than a foot away from him. Matt was so close that, if Mello tried to, it would be easy to pull the boy to him and—

"Is your hair natural?" Mello's need to distract his thoughts caused him to blurt the first thing that came to his mind.

"Yeah…?" From the look Matt was giving him, Mello was sure that the boy was contemplating the probability that Mello had just lost hold of his sanity.

"It's really bright," he stated dumbly.

"Yeah," Matt started laughing.

"Oh shut up," Mello muttered.

He felt his heart rate slowing down, but that didn't mean that any of the thoughts or feelings he had just discovered were gone. In fact, the more he looked at Matt—the more he was in the presence of Matt, the worse this emotions became. What on Earth had he gotten himself into?

* * *

After L had concluded the meeting with him and Mello, Raito had been instructed to convince Misa to go back to Japan. L had expressed that, even if Misa was not the original target, the failure of Beyond's attack on her and Raito would motivate him to take her life. Considering how terrified she seemed after the incident, Raito was fairly confident that she would want to go home anyway.

"Coming!" He heard Misa call when he knocked on her door. She had texted him the direction to her apartment, making sure to give him a rout that avoided the street they had been jumped in.

"How are you feeling?" He asked when she answered the door.

"You know," she shrugged, her usually cheerful attitude came off a note flat and nervous.

"Did you go to work today?" As they talked, Misa showed him into her small living room. She flopped onto her couch with a sigh. He sat next to her.

"No," she answered.

"That's good," he told her. He decided to get to the point of the conversation, doubting that the way he phrased it would change her response. "I was thinking, maybe you should go back to Japan."

"What?" She apparently didn't see this coming.

"I'm sure your agency will transfer you after what happened," he continued. "It's safer back home, and I know that none of them want you to feel afraid."

She bit her lip.

"But," she spoke hesitantly. "I don't have to be afraid anymore."

"What do you mean?" He read her expression easily. There was something that she wasn't telling him.

"It's going to sound crazy," her eyes broke away from his. "But someone was protecting us—protecting _me_ last night. And now I don't need to be afraid of anyone, because I know how to protect myself."

He wasn't following.

"Misa," he said her name patiently. "What are you talking about?"

"I need to show you something," she met his eyes for a moment before standing up from the couch and walking to a bookshelf across the room. From the shelf, she pulled out a black notebook and walked back to Raito. "Touch this."

"You are not making any sense," he told her with apprehension.

She impatiently took one of his hands and placed it on top of the book. Raito pulled his hand back, sending her a questioning expression. Then he saw what was now looming behind her.

In his state of alarm, Raito tried to stand, but only succeeded in falling off of the couch and onto the floor. Standing behind Misa was something that he could only describe as a monster. The white skeletal features and gold snake-like eyes was something that only a child's terrified imagination could conjure up. At that moment he was transported into a childhood nightmare; he couldn't will himself to move at all, his voice failing him as he tried to speak. If he hadn't felt like he lacked his last shred of reality, Raito would have tried to pinch himself.

"Don't freak out!" Misa exclaimed. "This is Rem, she's a shinigami."

"Shinigami," Raito repeated, desperately trying to regain his composure. "Is this some sort of trick?"

He remembered who's apparent he was in. If monster in front of him was a illusion created by smoke and mirrors, it was not one Misa would create. Misa would not pull a sick joke like this.

"Of course not," Misa looked genuinely hurt at the prospect.

"Why can I see her? Has she been here the whole time?" Raito had found his voice now, and pushed himself off of the floor.

"Yes," Misa nodded, and held the black notebook out to him. "You can see her because of this."

Raito took the book, opening it to it's first page. His eyes widened as he read the instructions. If this was real, which the shinigami in front of him proved, he was currently holding the most capable and deadly weapon imaginable. His fingers pulsed as he realized the power he had with this book in his hands.

"Does she talk?" He asked Misa, gesturing to the shinigami. Raito's confidence was back.

"Yes, Raito Yagami," Rem answered.

"So you killed that man who attacked us, then?" he questioned.

"No." Her voice reminded Raito of gravel; it was low and stolid for the most part, yet still had a district unattainability. "Gelus was the one who saved Misa's life."

"Another shinigami?" Raito assumed. "Why would a god of death save a human?"

"He was in love with me," Misa whispered.

"Every human has a predetermined life span that all shinigami can see," Rem explained. "Misa's was destined to run out this morning. To save her, Gelus wrote the name of your attacker in his death note."

"Then why didn't he come to tell her that?" Raito asked. "Too shy?"

"Gelus is dead." Rem stated. "Shinigami are not meant to give life, only to take it. By protecting Misa he violated our nature. His body turned to white sand as he finished writing that man's name."

"Romantic, isn't it?" Misa didn't wait for Raito's agreement, her eyes falling back to the book in his hands. "That's his notebook. Rem thought I should have it."

"What are you going to do with it?" Raito's grip tightened on the book subconsciously.

"I don't know." If the look on her face was any indication, Raito doubted that this was true. "What would you do?"

There was so much he could do with this notebook. He could end the case, as long as L had an image of Beyond Birthday and knew for certain that this was his real name. Raito could end so many cases, and prevent so many more. He could rid the world of those that were not fit to inhabit it.

"I would create a perfect world," the harsh whisper in his voice pulled him back to his senses.

His emotions were running ahead of him. Before doing anything rash, Raito needed to process the supernatural power that he was holding. He needed to tell L. Despite how much it irked him to admit this, L would know what to do better than he himself did.

"You would kill criminals?" Misa questioned.

"Yeah," Raito took a breath to clear his head. "Misa, I need to introduce you to a friend of mine who can help with this."

"We don't need help—"

"Please, I don't want either of us to do anything that we'd regret." Raito silenced her argument. "You're not a murderer."

"Is it really murder if the person deserves it?" He had never heard a tone so dark come from such a pretty and innocent looking girl.

A rush of dread swept through him, Raito opened the death note to the page after the instructions. He stared at the name written in neat feminine hand writing. It hadn't crossed his mind that someone like Misa would end a life without being influenced. Why would she need to?

"Who was he?" Raito looked at her, but she would not meet his gaze.

Gingerly she sat down on the couch.

"My parents are dead," she whispered. "They were murdered right in front of me."

"I'm sorry," he sat down next to her.

"He stuck a knife into my mother's heart and looked at me and laughed," Misa's voice shook as tears glossed over her eyes. "I saw him with my own eyes. I knew it was him. I told the police, I told everyone, it was him."

Her voice broke with a sob, the tears down spilling down her cheeks and taking her mascara with them. Raito put his arm around her to offer some comfort. She gulped a shaky breath before meeting his eyes again.

"They kept pushing his trial back. People started to believe that he didn't really do it. They said that Misa was wrong." Raito assumed that the use of third person was the best she could do to distance herself from the story she was telling. "He hired a smart lawyer who asked confusing questions and everyone thought Misa was wrong."

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"I know it was him," her voice was a whisper. "Now it doesn't matter. He got what he deserved."

"I understand," he wasn't lying when he said this. "That's the reason you let your agency send you here, huh?"

No matter how much she talked about missing home, she had chosen to take herself away from the place that had stolen those she loved most.

"Everything there just reminds me of them," she sniffed. "And everyone I worked with knew about the trial."

"They talked to you about it?" He was appalled.

"No," she shook her head. "They didn't bring it up. Actually they barely talked to me about anything, and when they did they acted like I was made of glass."

"I'm sorry," he knew she must have heard these words a thousand times from a thousand different people. "I need you to meet my friend now."

Misa dried her eyes and they both stood from the couch. She held out her purse for Ratio to put the death note into. He hesitated.

"Hold on." He opened the book and carefully tore out the first three pages. He handed two of these to Misa. "Hide these, but don't use them."

"Why?" she took the pages from him.

"Just in case."

She nodded, and left the room to hide them further in her apartment. Raito folded the third page and put it into a card hold in his wallet. He made a mental note to keep a pen in his pocket from now on. If that didn't work he could keep a needle. Although the idea of writing in blood didn't appeal to him, he'd have to be in a desperate situation to use the emergency page. He then pulled out his phone, and called L's contact.

"Raito-kun, this is becoming a habit," L answered.

"There's something important I need to show you," he said shortly. "I'll be at your room in twenty minutes."

"I'll be here."

The silence that Misa held throughout the walk to the hotel would have seemed out of character were it not for the story she had just told Raito. Although she had stopped crying, he knew it would take her a few more minutes to fully regain her composure. So he refrained from speaking to her, and spent the quiet wondering what L's reaction to the notebook in Misa's bag would be. As they made their way, Raito was painfully aware of the shinigami following them. He didn't think that Rem would want to hurt Misa or himself, but being near the creature made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

When Raito nocked on the door, L answered it instead of telling Raito to let himself in.

"This must be Amane-san," L looked at Misa.

"Yes," her face brightened when L addressed her in Japanese. "Raito didn't tell me your name."

"Ryuzaki."

Raito's eyes widen to comical proportion when L used the alias he had earlier told him to refer to his pretend boyfriend as. Judging by the smirk on L's face, he had done this on purpose. Raito braced himself for Misa's reaction.

"Oh?" Excitement and confusion filled her eyes. "Raito said you lived in Japan."

"I do live in Japan," L turned his back on them, walking to the chair he had sat in earlier that day.

"He's visiting," Raito said before L could make the lie any less believable.

"Raito-kun said he had something important," L looked to Raito. "I'm beginning to think that it isn't new evidence."

"Evidence?" Misa asked.

"Ryuzaki is a private investigator," Raito decided to tell her. "Sometimes he takes cases outside of Japan. That's why he's here now, right Ryuzaki?"

L took four long seconds to stare at Raito's exasperated expression.

"Yes," he stated.

"Wait," Misa's eyes traveled back in forth between the two of them before resting on L. "How old are you?"

"Too old for Raito-kun," L smirked.

The expression on Misa's face was thoroughly appalled.

"I thought Ryuzaki could help with the notebook because he's seen his share of odd things as a detective," Raito brought the conversation back on topic.

"Raito-kun, if this is not about the case, I'm going to have to ask you and your friend to leave. We can't afford to waist time right now," L seemed far less amused than he had seconds before.

"I promise, this won't be a waist of time," Raito made his tone as pointed as he could. "Misa, could I have the notebook?"

She bit her lip.

"Please," Raito added. "You can trust him."

She removed the book from her purse, handing it to Raito who then gave it to L. When receiving the book, L hadn't taken his gaze away from Raito and Misa. This meant that, the second that his fingertips grazed the cover, he saw the shinigami looming behind the pair.

A sharp gasp escaped L, and Raito watched the notebook fall onto the carpet. Calmly, Raito picked up the notebook and set it on the table. He placed a hand on L's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. L flinched when Raito touched him.

"It's okay," he made his voice as soothing as he could. "I told you this was important."

"Raito-kun doesn't exaggerate," L murmured. "If anything, you were selling your news short."

"Yeah," Raito chuckled. "You want an explanation now?"

"That would be nice."

* * *

L held the death note between two of his fingers, reading through it's rules for the second time. The very existence of this book was enough to send him into a panic attack, and this was not because of the fear of the damage that it could do. All of L's life he had depended on unbendable facts. Yet this book—the shinigami that had brought it to their world—denied the foundation of his thinking. He listened to Misa and Raito's impossible story, and believed every word of it.

"You want my advice on what to do?" L finally asked.

Raito nodded.

"By bringing this to me you have already decided what must be done," he informed the boy. "We burn it," he glanced at the shinigami. "Or at least lock it away."

"Ryuzaki," Raito used the fake name of which L had not told him the origin. "I understand where you're coming from, but what if we used it to—"

"Out of the question," L denied. "Besides, we don't know for certain that Beyond Birthday is even B's real name."

"I'm not just talking about this case," Raito pressed.

"I know you're not," L spoke stiffly. "And it is still out of the question."

"You know what the world is like," Raito tried again, his voice a degree closer to desperation. "I know you've witnessed and tried to fix more horrors than I ever will. You know there are people who misuse their lives to hurt others."

"You are correct."

"Now you can stop them," Raito said in exasperation.

"You're asking me to attempt to prevent murder with murder?" L raised a eyebrow. "I did not realize Raito-kun was so hypocritical."

"I'm not asking you to do anything," Raito said. "I'm just saying that we should consider it."

"There is no 'we' in this situation," L told him harshly. "The fact that you would consider using this book proves to me that you should not be involved in deciding what happens to it. I trust your judgement, Raito-kun, but right now I can see that your emotions are misleading you. I understand that you mean well."

"You're treating me like a child again," Raito informed him.

"By wanting to use this you are acting like a child with a rigid sense of right and wrong," L countered.

"Bad people don't learn how to be good," Raito's face and body language was calm, but his words held fire. "If Beyond Birthday had been executed, would all of those boys be dead?"

"That is a line that you do not get to cross," L venomously snapped.

"It's the truth," Raito crossed his arms.

L sighed, trying to clear the clouds of frustration from his head.

"You're young," he finally said.

"If you're about to tell me that I'll understand when I'm older—"

Cutting Raito off was becoming a habit.

"When I was your age—well, maybe not your age exactly—but when I first started," L's voice was as patient as he could make it. "I thought that same thing."

"And now you don't," Raito looked at him doubtfully.

"There is so much of this world that you do not understand. How could you if you haven't experienced it?" L donned a sad smile now. "But if you used this book you would be no better than Beyond Birthday, or any of the people you want to expunge."

Raito's expression was far from convinced, but it seemed L's words had pacified him.

"Your argument is solely based on pride," Raito informed him.

"Not solely." L decided to admit: "But pride factor's into everything that we do."

"I supposed you're right about that," Raito sighed. "Even if that is the only thing you've been right about tonight."

To L's surprise, these words were not toxic in the least. L knew that Raito was far from over the subject, but it seemed that, at least for the moment, he would listen to L. This was odd coming from the stubborn boy.

"You can hold onto it," Raito confirmed L's thoughts. "But I still have more things to say."

"You'll always have more things to say."

The soft look that Raito gave him in response to this jibe, made L question what the boy was thinking.

"Are you guys gonna to tell me what you're talking about?" Misa's voice broke through L's musings.

"Will Amane-san remain here?" He doubted that Raito had the chance to convince the girl to go back to Japan.

"I think that's what's best," Raito glanced to Misa.

"Then Raito-kun may give her an explanation," L stated. "I trust that you will be able to tell what is too confidential for her to know."

"I'm sitting right here," Misa muttered.

Both Raito and L ignored her, L deliberately and Raito because his attention had shifted to the shinigami.

"I am I right in thinking that, even though Misa is letting Ryuzaki hold onto the death note, it still belongs to her?" He asked.

"Yes," the shinigami spoke.

"Then, as long as Misa is the owner, you'll still be following her around?"

"I will stay with her."

"Misa will be safe here," he said to L. "If Beyond tries to kill her it will be the last thing that he does."

"I see." L wasn't sure how Raito was so certain that this monster would protect the girl, but he didn't push the matter.

"We'll go now," Raito must have sense L's need to be alone to think.

L mutely nodded.

Raito stood, but instead of walking to the door he bent over L's chair and pulled the detective into an embrace. Not used to being hugged, and certainly not without reason or warning, L froze.

"She still thinks we're dating, remember," Raito hissed in his ear.

L remained still.

"If you don't hug me back, I'm not letting go," Raito informed him a little too loud.

L awkwardly wrapped his arms around Raito's back. The boy waited five agonizingly long seconds before pulling away. His lips curved up in a smile.

"Raito-kun is very demanding," L huffed.

Misa giggled.

"You know you like it." Raito winked and L felt even more uncomfortable.

"What was that about leaving?" he glared.

Raito rolled his eyes, leading Misa and the shinigami out of the room.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone reading!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Callicanios, I'm happy that you like Misa in this fic (especially since you usually don't, I take this as a huge compliment)! I'm not surprised that you found the distance between Light and L frustrating, but I'm grateful that everyone stuck through the distance so that the plot could get where it needed to be for them to meet. I'm happy you liked how things fit together! Thanks for the review!**

 **Bluxpudding, I really wish I could say that the initials were on purpose, but they weren't. Haha. You were right about Beyond, thanks for the prediction!**

 **Guest, yup!**

 **SadlyNotLawliet, cliffhangers are things I hate to read and love to write (because I'm evil). Thanks for the review!**


	8. Chapter Eight

The next day Raito entered the hotel room to see the coffee table covered by a large sheet of white butcher paper. On the paper L had written the names of the murder victims (and the first two suicides). Raito couldn't help but notice how scraggly the detective's handwriting was. He'd save that comment for a less productive occasion. Mello had arrived first, and nodded in Raito's direction when he took the seat across from L.

"What do you see?" L asked Raito with a sly smile.

Raito didn't bother wondering if L would ever get tired of testing his mental ability.

"The names of the dead boys," Raito answered.

"Be more specific," L instructed.

"The full names of the victims," Raito corrected.

"That's not entirely true," L told him. "I've written the first and last names of each of the boys as well as the initial of their middle names."

"We can see that," Mello said curtly.

"Yes, I know," L replied dryly. "What else do you see?"

"I see that L is in the mood to toy with us," Raito deadpanned.

"Exactly!" L exclaimed, standing up from his chair and startling both Raito and Mello.

"Wait," Raito blinked at him. "What?"

"I'm toying with you," L continued with a wide grin. "In other words, I'm playing a game with you. A game in which you are a pawn that I am directing into making the conclusions that I want you to. Sound familiar?"

"Naomi Misora," Mello's voice was emotionless as he spoke the name.

"Yes. B set up games to direct Misora," L sat back down. "B likes games. He uses them when he wants to get my attention. That being said, what do you see?"

"A puzzle," Raito answered.

"Yes," L grinned.

"A puzzle you know the answer to," Mello added.

"Naturally." L leaned over the desk and drew a long circle around the middle initials. "B didn't give us any hints to solve this, because he knew that the two deaths were enough of a hint on their own."

"A and S," Raito remembered.

"B is trying to get my attention, but he still wants me to work to find the answer," L said.

"Sounds counter productive," Raito muttered.

"We'll blame his inferiority complex," L told him.

"So the middle initials spell something?" Mello brought them back to the topic.

Under the circle, L wrote the words _Wammy's House_. He underlined the first letter 'a' and Hadley Jenson's middle initial. He then underlines the first 's' and Adam Smith's initial. Raito immediately noticed that these letter were four spaces apart.

"He was lucky that the first two matches the name and one of his numbers," L continued. "From that point forward, he follow the pattern: S, M, H, ect. Finally leaving us with W, Y, and U."

"So the next three victims will have these initials," Raito rephrased.

"Yes."

"And after that?" Mello asked.

"I'm only forty-percent sure, but I believe he'll repeat the pattern until he believes I've noticed it," L explained. "Of course, middle initial is not the only thing that he's using to select his victims, if it was it would be nearly impossible for us to correctly guess who is next. For the last eight deaths, B has be cycling through social class, grade, and mental health. The last is most likely due to the depression that Jenson was in and lack of that Smith possessed. After factoring this in, I've narrowed down who the next three victims will be."

L produced his computer from it's hiding place under his chair. He opened it to three student profiles. The first two Raito did not recognize, but he shared two classes with the third boy.

"I know that one," he voiced.

"Mello?" L glanced at the blonde.

"Haven't met any of them," Mello admitted. "But I can befriend them if that'll help."

"I highly suggest that you do," he looked back to Raito.

"I will too," Raito agreed to the unspoken question. "When do you think the first will be attacked?"

"So far, there has been no pattern in the date and time of deaths," L said. "B had been spacing them out, and I assume it's because he doesn't want the school to catch onto what's really happening. The less attention he draws, the easier it is for him to maneuver in the shadows."

"So what should we do?" Mello asked.

"I need you to report that you think these boys will be the next victims to Roger and Watari," L instructed the blonde. "Don't tell them about my involvement or that you think the killer is B. Make up some other reason, and ask for more resources to catch the murderer or at least have school officials on the look out. We shouldn't expect the next death for at least another two weeks, but we need to be on guard from this point forward."

"Got it," Mello rose from his chair.

"And I need to see your rosary before you go," L told him.

"Why?" Mello's fingers closed around his neckless.

"Since the two of you are so dead-set on staying, I need to know where you are at all times," L said.

"You're going to put a tracking device in my rosary?" Mello gave him an annoyed look.

"I promise to remove it once Beyond is safely in prison," L added. "But you could always go back to Wammy's. Tracker or dismissal, your choice."

"Fine," Mello sighed and handed L the necklace.

Raito watched L insert and metal chip at the base of the cross.

"Raito-kun, may I see your wrist watch?" L asked after returning the cross to Mello.

He slid the watch off and handed it to L, who skillfully removed the glass face and inserted another black chip.

"There you go," L gave it back to him.

Mello was already walking to the door, and Raito got the sense that the both of them had been dismissed.

"One more thing, Raito-kun." It was only when he had reached the door that L called him back. L waited until Mello left before continuing. "How are you so certain that Amane-san is safe from B? If the shinigami killed him to protect her, she would die instead."

"Yes, and I'm not completely certain," Raito admitted, sitting back down. "But Rem didn't have to come here to give Misa the book in the first place. It's not exactly easy to read a shinigami's emotions, but I think that she feels inclined to help Misa because of the death of her friend. She must think she's honoring Gelus."

"I see. And if she does not prevent harm coming to Misa?"

"Misa's not walking alone at night anyway," Raito told him. "Not to mention that, according to Rem, her lifespan increased when Gelus died for her."

"I'd prefer not to stake a life on those odds," L drawled. "But if she is so set against returning home, I will trust your judgement."

"She can't go back right now," Raito confirmed. "It's a personal thing."

"On the subject of personal problems," L shifted gears. "Now that she knows that there is a murder at Lowood and a notebook that can kill people, would it be that difficult to tell her that we are not in a relationship?"

"Actually, yes," Raito nervously chuckled.

"Why?"

"She stopped flirting with me after I told her I was gay and in a relationship," Raito stated.

L looked taken aback.

"And a pretty girl's interest is such a bad thing?" He wondered.

"I guess not," Raito ran a hand through his hair. "But she's not my type and it's easier to be around her when she's not hanging off of me."

"I see." Raito watched L process this. "What is Raito-kun's type?"

The question brought a blush to Raito's face and a knot to his stomach that he had not anticipated.

"I don't know," he projected a carefree facade.

"But not Misa Amane?"

"Not Misa Amane," he nodded.

"Very well," L sighed. "On the occasion that I am in the same room as her, you may continue to pretend that we are dating."

"It didn't bother you earlier," Raito pointed out.

"Earlier I was a voice on your phone and no physical contact was involved," L deadpanned.

"Oh," Raito felt his stomach churn again. "Sorry about that."

"It's not a problem," L's tone said otherwise. "Just warn me the next time you are going to behave affectionately."

"Will do," Raito meant to leave then, but for some reason he couldn't get his legs to work. "L, how old are you?"

Of all the random questions that could have popped out of his mouth, why on Earth had he voiced this one? Judging from the look on L's face, he seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"Does it matter?" L asked.

"No," Raito admitted. "But, you're a lot younger than I imagined."

"Yes," L smirked. "That's understandable."

"Can you tell me?" Raito asked.

"No."

"If you trust me enough to show me what you look like, then why can't you tell me this?" It didn't necessarily bother him, but he was curious to know how young the world's greatest detective really was.

"It's not about trust, after all my age is just a number to you," L had a sly look on his face.

"Then why can't you tell me?" Raito asked again.

"Because I enjoy watching how flustered you get when you don't know something," L told him honestly.

"That's rude," was all Raito could say.

"I know," L smirked again

Raito rose from his chair. He needed to get out of the room.

"You'll let me know the next time we need to meet?" he asked the unnecessary question.

"As always."

"Right," he nodded nervously but forced himself to walk to the door at a normal pace.

As Raito walked home, he let his thoughts run rampage. It was true that he idolized L, he could admit that. From the beginning it was impossible not to be in awe of the man, even when he had no idea what he looked like. L was arguably the smartest man alive, yet for some reason he still enjoyed talking to Raito. At first Raito had been starstruck, but soon this had grown into an addiction to the attention.

Never had this been attraction, because he had no idea what L looked like. Alright, that was a lie. Maybe what he had said to Misa about his pretend boyfriend's voice was true. At that time he could spare himself from acknowledging this because he had never met L face to face. Not to mention the fact that he had imagined the man to be much older.

"Great," he muttered to himself. "The one time I'm actually interested in someone, it has to be the only person completely out of my league."

* * *

"I don't get it," Matt told Mello.

"I know," Mello sighed, regretting trying to keep his friend in as much of the know as he could. "But these three are the next victims."

"And you can tell from their emotional issues?" Matt gave him a skeptical look.

"Yes." Mello couldn't explain the middle name pattern to Matt, and had hoped that the smaller details strengthening L's conclusion would be enough to convince him.

"If you haven't noticed, half this school has emotional issues," Matt said bluntly.

"I know what I'm talking about," Mello huffed.

Matt looked him over silently for a moment.

"Fine," he shrugged. "I'll just act like I think you know what you're doing."

"You do think that," Mello pointed out.

"For the most part," Matt informed him.

"Whatever."

Mello didn't want to talk about the case with Matt. Whenever he tried to distance Matt from it, he was meant with rock hard stubbornness and some anger. Yet, when he did tell Matt things like this, he couldn't keep from feeling guilty. It was one thing not to tell Roger that he'd enlisted his roommate's help, but this was something he should have made clear to L after their first meeting. Part of him knew that eventually L would figure it out, after all he was the world's greatest detective (and if L didn't, Light might and would definitely tell him). Mello knew that, the more this was delayed the stronger L's wrath and disappointment would be. It was the latter that Mello doubted he'd be able to stand. He'd been able to get this far without L comparing him to Near, or even to Light. Yet, Mello knew that this mistake would forever seal his fate as second best.

He told himself that this was the only reason why he kept Matt's involvement to himself. It was easier to rationalize his own mind, and blame everything on the inferiority complex that he was barely comfortable acknowledging. Still, he knew that there was another more confusing reason why he didn't tell L about Matt. Friendship was never something that Mello had been good at. Oddly enough, he hadn't managed to drive Matt away yet. He wanted to keep Matt to himself, because he liked that he was the only one who knew. He enjoyed having a secret. He wanted Matt to stay only his. That was messed up, right?

"Do you have any idea who's behind it?" Matt's voice broke through his thoughts.

"No," Mello lied.

"Do you think it's a student?" Matt tried.

"I don't know," Mello pretended to sigh in exhaustion. "Do you?"

"I don't have any theories," Matt confessed. "But I'm not the one who thinks he knows who the next three victims will be."

"I do know," Mello argued uselessly.

"So how are we going to save them?" Matt looked at him expectantly.

Mello hadn't thought of this. He knew L would have a game plan, but this was one of the things that he couldn't explain to Matt. If he said nothing, Matt would know something was up. Mello was more likely to risk life and limb than stand back without any ideas.

"What do you think we should do?" Mello redirected the question.

"We can't stop him by ourselves," Matt said practically.

"Him or her," Mello interjected.

"Right," Matt nodded. "Maybe we could call the police. They'd have to listen, right?"

"I guess." Mello resisted shrugging. "Yeah, you're right, we'll do that."

"What did you plan on doing?" Matt asked. "Before I answered."

"Burst into the victim's room and shoot the killer," Mello made his face as serious as he could.

"Very funny," Matt rolled his eyes. "You don't have a gun, idiot."

"I'll steal one," Mello told him.

"From who?"

"The headmaster," Mello decided. "If anyone has a deadly weapon, it's the headmaster."

"As much as I agree," Matt laughed. "Let's just stick to my plan."

"Fine," Mello crossed his arms. "But if it doesn't work I get to shoot someone. Deal?"

"Deal."

Mello took in the goofy smile on Matt's face. He realized that once the case was over he would have to say goodbye to his friend. It was unlikely that they'd ever see each other again, and they hadn't any reason to. For the first time since his arrival at Lowood, Mello wasn't sure he wanted to catch the murderer.

* * *

B laughed. He knew that his source would prove useful. Now that he knew the other players were ready, he would change the rules of the game. This was only fair. After all, they had the advantage.

* * *

L's emotions were a blur of fury and disbelief. He ignored both as he processed the information on his computer screen. It was moments like this where cold, hard facts were his allies. The less he felt and the more he analyzed, the easier it was to make sense of what happened. The cake was helping. Cake always helped.

What did he know for certain? All three of the potential victims he had named the day before were dead. He doubted that either Mello or Raito would have had time to approach all three, but made a mental note to verify this later. Mello may have already contacted Roger, but it was highly unlikely that Roger had already confirmed that he would give Mello extra help and have notified the school.

What were the chances that B had happened to kill all three of the victims in one night on his own accord? Although L did not put drastic action past B, he knew that B would want confirmation of an audience before putting on a show. This meant that B knew that L, or someone working for L, was watching him. Yet, it was still unlikely that B would coincidentally take this action at the same time that L had figured out his pattern. No, it was impossible. This meant that B was somehow getting information on L's progress.

Someone was _giving_ B information.

L refused to believe that Raito or Mello would betray him, but they were the only two that he had told his reasoning to. Wether or not he thought they would conspire against him, all facts pointed to the affirmative. Taking another bite of cake, L went over the candidates for B's next three victims. He wrote the first two down on a new sheet of butcher paper, but instead of writing the third he wrote the name of a boy that he had immediately ruled out due to economic stance and grade. He then notified Mello and Raito, telling them to come to the hotel room immediately.

The trap was set.

* * *

After L's impromptu meeting, and the grave news that it carried, Raito and Mello had been told to go back to their rooms and not take any immediate actions. Raito had to admit that he was slightly annoyed that L didn't want his help figuring out what to do next. Yet, given his unsorted emotional (and hormonal) state, he was relieved that he wouldn't have to be around the detective of a long period of time.

"Sayu, I need to ask you a very, very serious question and you are not aloud to laugh at me."

Since L's arrival, Raito had been keeping his phone calls to his family short. Every second of his spare time became devoted to his studies, since he couldn't use the fact that he was busy solving a murder case with the world's greatest detective as an excuse to his teachers or parents for hid grades slipping. His parents didn't seem to mind the quick conversations, but Sayu wanted to gossip and tell him about every little thing that was happening to her. If she was bitter for him cutting her time, this conversation would surely make up for it.

"Okay," she agreed. "Unless you're asking about birth control, because I can't contain my reaction to that subject."

"What? No." Sometimes he had no idea how thoughts got themselves into her head.

"Alright, then I won't laugh," she told him.

"Promise?" he sounded far more ernest that he intended to.

"Now you're making me nervous," she said.

"Sorry," he ran a hand through his hair. "It's just...what makes you think I'm gay?"

"That's what this is about?" She exclaimed loudly, and he heard her guffaw through the phone.

"You said you wouldn't laugh," he muttered.

"Sorry." He could clearly picture the smug grin on her face.

"Well?" he impatiently drummed his fingers on his desk.

"If I said I can just tell this sort of thing...?"

"I would hang up on you," Raito confirmed.

"Okay," she paused, presumably collecting her thoughts. "Well, where do I start?"

"Is the answer that complicated," Raito had been under the impression that he came off as straight to most people.

"It's mainly the way you present yourself," she decided. "You care more about your appearance than most men."

"But not excessively," he argued. "Wanting to look nice has nothing to do with sexual orientation."

"Do you want my answers or not?" she asked.

"Sorry," he decided to hold his tongue. "Continue."

"There's the fact that I don't remember you having a single girlfriend in your entire high school experience," she added. "But I think we've already gone over that. Why is this bothering you so much?"

"No reason," he lied.

"Did you meet a boy at school?" Sayu burst into a new fit of giggles.

"No."

"You're such a liar," she declared.

"Fine," he sighed. He'd have to tell her at some point, right? "Maybe I met someone I'm attracted to."

"Oh my God!" It was hard to tell, but he could have sworn he could hear her jumping up and down. "What's his name? What does he look like? Did you tell him you're into him?"

"One question at a time," he told her.

"Fine," she stopped jumping. "Name first."

"Ryuzaki."

"He's Japanese?" she asked.

"Yes..." Raito wasn't sure on this. "It's hard to tell with him."

"Is he handsome?" Sayu asked in an airy voice.

"Unconventionally so," Raito answered honestly.

"Most people just say 'yes,' " she let him know.

"I thought you wanted a genuine answer," he teased.

"I do," she said. "What makes him so 'unconventional.' "

Raito considered this.

"He has very bad sleep bruises," Raito thought of the rings that were closer to black than purple.

"Hm?"

"Bags under his eyes," Raito clarified.

"Those are bruises?"

"Yes, those are bruises," he answered. "I don't think Ryuzaki sleeps much."

"Are you saying you're turned on by this, because that's kinda creepy," Sayu sounded more amused than disturbed.

"You know that's not what I meant," he let some annoyance seep through his voice. "It's just, contrasting with how pale his skin is, they're kind off..."

"Hot?"

"Alluring," he corrected.

"Is he smart?" Sayu asked.

"He's a genius," Raito admitted.

"Good," she sounded relieved. "Or else you'd drive the poor guy crazy."

"I think I do that anyway." Raito recalled how ferociously L had responded when he had tried to convince him to use the death note.

"Does he know you're into him?" she asked bluntly.

"No," Raito couldn't picture himself telling any man, much less L, that he had feelings for him. How would L even react to that?

"Why not?" Sayu asked.

He couldn't tell her the real reason to this. If he said that he was working for Ryuzaki or that he didn't even know how old the man was, Sayu's excitement would turn to concern.

"He doesn't see me in that way," Raito said aloud.

"How do you know?" She asked. "Most people keep their feelings hidden, the way that you are with him. Maybe he's doing the same thing."

"He isn't," Raito was certain of this.

 _Even when he is taking me seriously, he still sees me as a child._ Raito leaned his head on his fist. He wasn't used to this longing that now filled him.

"It doesn't matter," Raito decided. "It wouldn't last anyway."

"You're very pessimistic," Sayu told him flatly.

"And very correct," he informed her.

"Like that really matter's when you're in love."

"I didn't say I liked him _that_ much," Raito muttered. "Besides, I don't think he's gay."

"Oh," Sayu seemed not to expect this. "That sucks."

"Not really," he made his tone light. "It's better this way."

"You're really sad, you know?"

"I wasn't aware," he said dryly.

"Well now you are." He pictured her placing a hand on her hip as she spoke.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" He was ready to be alone with his thoughts.

"You better," she warned.

"I don't think I have to say that everything we just discussed stays between you and me." He waited for her affirmative.

"I won't tell Mom and Dad," she confirmed.

"Thanks."

Raito ended the call and flopped on this bed. His neglected homework sat tauntingly on his desk. He debated getting up to complete it or simply going to sleep. The latter won. He let himself drift off, trying as hard as he could to keep his thoughts far away from the dark haired detective.

* * *

Loyalty was never something that L needed to call into question before. The few who knew his private information about had known this since he first became L. Because he had never placed an large extent of his trust in some he did not know for years, L had never before felt the sting of betrayal and heartbreak at his own foolishness.

Beyond had killed the three boys that L voiced his suspicion on. This included the third boy that L knew B had not originally set his sights on. The only way for B to have known about this victim was if Mello or Raito had leaked the information to him.

Mello was young, rash, and more prideful than L had counted on. He would be lying to himself if he said that Mello didn't remind him of Beyond Birthday at that age. The both of them were second best and nearly driven mad by their motivation to prove that they were more capable than their proceeder. Had Beyond tried to use the boy against L, there was always a chance that it would work.

Yet, Mello was not a killer. L had known this since the boy was first selected as his second successor. Although the emotion that the boy felt could be harmful to himself and others, L knew that Mello's heart was always in the right place. Even if he hated L, and despite the respect L could tell that there was a small degree of resentment, Mello would not ally himself with a serial killer.

That left Raito.

Since L had first talked to Raito he had felt that the two of them were cut from the same cloth. He may have questioned Raito's morals when they had argued over what to do with the death note, but never had L thought that the boy would turn against him. What motivation did he have? Then again, what motivation did Raito have _not_ to hurt L?

They had only been working together for a few months. The only loyalty that Raito would possess toward L would have been gained through his initial admiration of the detective. Admiration was something that L doubted his constant toying had upheld. On the other hand through teasing Raito, L had thought a bond between the two of them had grown. Raito could have been acting. The more L thought about it, the more he remembered the boy's skill at charming his way into the good opinion of others. L had always thought that he was immune to this sort of behavior, but he had never met someone like Raito Yagami before.

L picked up his mobile phone and dialed the familiar number. He needed answers and there was only one way to get them.

"Raito-kun?" His voice conveyed nothing.

"L," Raito greeted him.

L could clearly picture the smile on the boy's face. The smile that had to be false.

"I have gained important information," L told him. "I need you at the hotel room immediately."

"I'm on my way," Raito answered.

It was currently the beginning of the school day, and L reasoned that it would take Raito longer than usual to sneak off campus.

"Good." He hung up and prepared for his 'friend's' arrival.

The hotel suit had three rooms, the living room (where L met with Raito and Mello), the kitchen (where L stored his cake), the bedroom (which L only entered to change his clothes), and the bathroom. Not wanting to interrogate Raito in the room closest to the entrance, the bedroom was the ideal location. L entered the bedroom and pushed the small, lumpy bed so it was now adjacent to the wall. In the middle of the room he dragged one of the chairs from the living room. He debated bringing the coffee table as well, but decided that if he needed a table he could use the bed.

 _A swift kick to the head should be sufficient._ He reasoned when he heard a nock on the door.

* * *

The back of Raito's head ached. It took seconds for his groggy mind to register that he was not lying on his bed. He tried to move his arms, but felt a cold and metallic restraint holding them behind him. His eyes opened to nothing, and he realized that he was blindfolded as well. Firm panic settled into his gut as he desperately tried to remember what had last happened to him.

 _L called me,_ he recalled. _Was I jumped again on the way to the hotel?_

No, he remembered walking through the lobby and up the stairs. Everything was coming back now. He had only just entered the room when something hard had whacked against his head. He hadn't seen who or what had hit him.

 _No, no, no! This isn't happening._

How was he still alive? If he was attacked in L's hotel room that had to mean Beyond Birthday had found them.

Beyond Birthday found L.

What if L was dead? Raito didn't have the time to be surprised that he was more fearful over the detective's fate than his own. Burning terror filled Raito, and he began to struggle wildly against what had to be handcuffs that were fastening him to a chair.

"Raito-kun, stop moving," a familiar voice instructed him.

Raito froze. L was talking to him. That meant L was safe. Relief rushed over Raito but was diminished just as quickly.

"What is going on?" he demanded.

"You tell me, Raito-kun," L's voice was more threatening that Raito had ever heard it.

"I can't tell you anything when I have no idea why you handcuffed me to a chair," he growled back.

"Think," L told him. "Pretend it's a game. You like games, don't you Raito-kun? You like games almost as much as B does."

Why was L comparing him to Beyond Birthday? Something happened. Raito must have done something. Awareness that he was now on very dangerous ground cooled his initial rage.

"I don't know what I did to deserve your distrust," he spoke slower now.

"Why don't you think on that," L suggested harshly. "I'll come back in a hour or so."

"No!" Raito knew he would drive himself crazy being stuck like this for a long period of time. "Is this about the death note?"

"You mean this piece of paper that I found inside your wallet?" L asked. "I had my suspicions, but thank you for confirming what it is."

"I wasn't going to use it," Raito heard how frantic his voice was.

"Then why did you keep it?"

"I don't know," Raito lied.

"Wrong answer."

"I kept it incase I needed it," Raito confessed. "For an emergency. I had a feeling that you'd take the notebook away, and I wanted some security incase I was attacked again."

There was a silence, and Raito hoped that this meant L was considering his argument.

"The death note is not why you are restrained and blindfolded," L informed him.

"I haven't done anything else wrong!" Raito desperately exclaimed.

"I have no reason to trust anything that you say to me," L snapped.

"You think I betrayed you?" Raito drew this out, not knowing any other reason why L would have knocked him out.

"Yes," L confirmed.

"You think I'm working with Beyond Birthday?" Raito's shock bled through his voice, but he doubted that this would sway L's opinion of him.

"It would make everything easier if Raito-kun would confess to what he has done," L said.

"I'm not working with a mass murderer!" Raito's anger was back.

"I suppose that Mello was the one who has been passing information to B, then?"

"Passing information?" Raito recalled the sudden deaths of the last three victims.

"Yes," L replied. "You and Mello were the only ones who I told."

"You think I'd betray you before he would?" Ratio snarled. "I have no reason to go against you."

"Do you remember why we first met?" L's tone shifted as he asked this.

"We were both working on that case back in Japan," Raito answered.

"And why, exactly, were you involved Raito-kun?" The way L asked this made it clear to Raito that he already knew the answer. "You're a high-school student, and the fact that you had to contact me directly proves that you knew that working on it was not your place."

"I knew they wouldn't take mer seriously," Raito said honestly. "I thought that you'd listen to what I had to say before dismissing me because of my age."

"But why was it so important for you to help on that case?" L pressed. "What was motivating you? And we both know it was not your burning need to prevent more deaths."

"I was bored," Raito heard himself shout. "Helping with the case was more stimulating than my everyday life, and for those few months I wasn't plagued with the boredom that comes with being a genius."

"Boredom can cause many to do unspeakable things, Raito-kun."

"Don't you dare twist my words against me!" Raito seethed.

"Here is what I think happened," L continued, ignoring Raito's last comment. "Up until I denied you the death note, you saw me as a means to cure your boredom. Having to uproot your life in order to solve this case must have been the most exciting thing you've ever experience. However, when I refused to let you play with the murder weapon you and Amane-san acquired, you realized that I had too many rules.

"As any childish person would know, rules obstruct excitement and indirectly enforce boredom. From there you decided to help Beyond, a man who arguably has no rules and could provide the entertainment you crave. Should Beyond prove too challenging to handle, you could always kill him with the death note. That is, if you decided to make the deal for the shinigami eyes, or had Amane-san get the eyes for you. Am I correct, Raito-kun?"

"No."

"Would you like to provide a counter argument?" Raito imagined L leering as he said this.

"No."

"That's alright," L's voice was back to neutral. "You can take as much time as you need, but I doubt that your acting skills will last forever."

"Go to hell," Raito hissed.

"What was that?"

"You're wrong about me," Raito said a little louder.

"Raito-kun, I am rarely wrong about anything," L remarked.

"I don't understand how you can think those things. I may be bored with normalcy, but I wouldn't go so far as to hurt innocent people to cure my boredom. I wouldn't betray someone that placed so much of their trust in me. I don't hurt people that I care about!" Raito felt tears sting his eyes and was oddly grateful for the blind fold concealing them. "I thought we were friends."

"So did I," L whispered.

"See," Raito force his voice still. "That's something that you were wrong about."

"I don't intend on being wrong about Raito-kun again," L said darkly. "You will not be released until you confess and tell me where Beyond is."

Raito heard L open and close the door. He waited then seconds before letting a shuttering sigh escape his lips. His head dropped between his shoulders as he did his best to force away the tears of frustration and rejection.

* * *

 **I feel like I bully Raito-kun in all my stories...**

 **Callicanios, it's okay to swat Light with a newspaper (I just made L tie him to a chair). I wanted the throw the death note in there because I feel like it's out of character for Light not to have some Kira thoughts (and I wanted to work with the Kira thoughts). Your reviews always make my day! Thanks!**

 **Kiii, thank you so much for what you said about my portal of Misa. I also don't like when she's shown as "in the way of Light and L" especially since cannon Light has no romantic feels towards her.**

 **Guest, thanks for your review!**

 **Blazedoll, thanks for your review!**


	9. Chapter Nine

Mello noticed that Light had disappeared somewhere between breakfast and lunch. He knew that it was human nature to assume the worse, and that his automatic reaction should have been worry. Yet, he didn't doubt that Light's absence meant that he was currently with L.

Mello couldn't help a sting of jealously that the thought that L had wanted to meet with Light alone. He had half a mind to ditch school himself and crash said meeting. However, Mello knew he couldn't leave without Matt noticing and asking one million questions. At the end of the day, he told his roommate that he had to meet with a teacher. Instead of calling L to ask if he should come to the hotel, he decided that his arrival would be announcement enough.

"Mello." When L opened the door to him, the detective did not look surprised in the least. "It's good you're here, I have some information you should look over."

Without giving Mello the chance to reply, L dumped a stack of papers into his arms.

"What are these?" was all he could ask.

"Accounts on Namoi Misora's behavior before she left America," L answered, picking up a separate sheet of paper. "In terms of proving that B is the culprit, this one this the most vital."

Mello put the stack of papers onto the coffee table, dropped his school bag on the ground next to it, and took the document from L.

"It's a copy of the letter that she was mailing to her fiancé the night she was murdered," L told him. "The mail in the outside boxes survived the fire."

"She knew she was going to die," Mello stated after reading the scribbled addendum.

"Yes," L said gravely.

"Why are you showing me this?" Mello asked.

"You seemed upset over her death," L answered. "I wanted you to know that she didn't die for nothing."

"But she did," Mello argued. "Her death isn't helping us catch Beyond at all!"

"I disagree," L's tone was firm. "In the least it gives me a final confirmation that this is indeed Beyond we are dealing with. It also proves that he killed her himself. This means that he isn't sending one of the convicts to do all of his dirty work and we may have a chance at catching him in an attempt to kill one of his victims."

"But that's not worth her life." Mello's eyes met the carpet and he had a strong urge to kick the side of the coffee table. "It's a waste."

"I wish she was still here," L murmured. "She was clever, one of the cleverest that I've ever worked with. Of course this wasn't worth her life, nothing is worth a life. But we know that she died trying to protect others, and that, by no means, is a waste."

Mello understood this. Truthfully it did make him feel a great deal better, but he didn't want to tell L this. He didn't want to say anything that would cause him to show anymore emotion. Therefore, Mello opted to change the subject.

"Where's Raito?" Mello referred to the teen by the name he knew L used.

"In the other room," L's eyes noticeably darkened.

"Why?"

"That it the second thing that I wanted to discuss with you."

L motioned for Mello to sit down, and Mello noticed that one of the four chairs usually around the coffee table was missing. Instead of asking where it was, Mello decided to let L explain what else was going on. As the detective did, the blonde felt a knot growing tighter and tighter in his stomach.

"You think that he's been giving B information?" Mello repeated after L finished his explanation.

"It has to be him," a sad gleam passed through L's eyes.

"Why?" Mello wondered. "From what you said you could either suspect him or me? Isn't my percentage of betraying you just as high?"

L smiled a tired and pained smile.

"I trust your loyalty, Mello," he said.

A terrible realization settled over Mello. He cursed his luck for giving him the praise that he had long been seeking from his mentor and then forcing him to give it up. Still, even as he tried to blame fate, part of him knew that this entire situation was all of his fault.

"You shouldn't trust me," Mello forced himself to say.

"And why is that?" The look L gave him made it hard for Mello to tell if he was being taken seriously.

"I've been keeping something from you," he continued, hastily adding: "But it doesn't have to do with the case. Not really."

L was silent. Mello took this as his queue to keep talking, avoiding the detective's gaze as he did so.

"When I first came here I told my roommate about the murders. I didn't tell him about you or Wammy's House, he just thinks that I want to solve the case because it's the right thing to do. I only told him because he's very intelligent, and I thought that it would make my job easier if I had him do the computer work. He's a genius when it comes to computers," Mello cleared his throat, but didn't pause his explanation. "After Raito got attacked I tried to get him to leave, but he didn't want to. He said that he wanted to help me solve the case, and I didn't think that it was fair if I withheld information from him."

"Are you telling me that you've been giving information to this boy the entire time?" The fact that L's voice remained level as he said this made his presence even more intimidating.

"Yes," Mello confessed.

"Did you tell him who I suspected the past six victims would be?"

"Yes," Mello stammered. "But he can't be the one leaking to B! Matt's a good person. He has a moral code."

"Does he really?" L questioned. "Or could he have been playing you since you first met him."

Mello refused to consider this. Matt couldn't be lying to him. He would have been able to tell wouldn't he? If Matt was a fraud then how could he see through Mello the way only someone who understood him could, the way only a friend could? How could Mello have feelings for a pretense? Feelings that Mello thought he'd be allowed to figure out. Feelings that he was almost certain would be returned.

"Did Matt know about Naomi Misora?" L's voice broke through the Mello's thoughts of his world crumbling, but only helped the ruins forge.

"Yes," Mello admitted. "He didn't want me to investigate her. He tried to stop me from going to her apartment."

"Why?"

"Because he thought it was dangerous," Mello remembered. "He didn't give any more reason than that."

"Maybe he knew who she was," L suggested. "Maybe B wanted him to keep the two of you from exchanging information before he killed her."

"No," Mello shook his head, wildly trying to find an logical reason for all of this. "If he is working for B, then why am I still alive? Wouldn't B want me dead?"

"Yes," L agreed. "But only after you fulfilled your purpose in his plan. You're not his target, Mello. I am."

"I can't believe this," Mello whispered.

* * *

"Neither can I." If L had felt like a fool earlier that day, then right now he thought himself an absolute moron. If his emotions had been a whirlwind before, now they were a tsunami. "I am beyond disappointed."

 _In both you and me._

L's thoughts shifted to Raito. Innocent Raito he had kept chained for hours while harping on a crime that he now knew the boy had not committed. Any relief that his friend had not betrayed him was drowned out by the knowledge that he certainly had betrayed his friend.

"I'm sorry," he heard Mello start to say.

"We don't have time for 'sorry,' " L did not care how harsh he sounded. "We're going to clean up the mess the both of us made and figure out where to go from there."

Mello nodded, mutely following L to the bedroom. Raito was still blindfolded, but the boy's head snapped up when he heard the door open. Raito didn't say anything, but after their first confrontation he hadn't spoken much. L silently walked to the chair and removed the blindfold.

L watched his friend's eyes widen in confusion before resuming their narrowed anger. Dried tears were marked around his eyes, and L felt a fresh wave of remorse sweep over him. Breaking eye contact, L walked behind the chair and produced the key to the handcuffs from his pants pocket. Raito snatched his hands away the moment that they were unlocked. L walked in front of the chair again. Raito stood, confusion again apparent on his face.

"I apologize for the past few hours," L met Raito's gaze as he said this. "Mello, would you like to explain to Raito what has really been going on?"

Raito didn't speak until after Mello finished talking. L tried to read the boy's expressions, but once Mello's explanation began Raito had slipped a mask over his emotions.

"Can you give us a minute?" Raito asked Mello, once the blonde finished.

Mello nodded, his shame making him obedient.

L's eyes followed Mello as he exited the room and closed the door behind him. His attention shifted back to Raito just in time to register the boy's fist as it collided with his face. Without the chance to anticipate the blow, L couldn't stop himself from falling backwards on impact. His torso roughly and painfully crashing to the ground.

"You lock me to a chair for hours and all I get is 'I apologize?' " Raito screamed at him.

"I'm sorry," L knew his surprise from the outburst was apparent on his face.

"Not good enough," Raito seethed. "You practically accused me of murder—"

He was cut off from any further retorts when L shifted into a backbend, swinging his left foot at the side of Raito's head. The boy lost his balance and ungracefully crashed into the floor. Without standing up, Raito delivered another punch. His disorientation caused him to miss L's face, and hit him in the shoulder instead. L ignored the dull pain to kick Raito in the stomach. He watched Raito sit up and didn't stop him from grasping a fist full of his shirt. L didn't wince, but mentally prepared himself for the punch.

To say that Raito's next actions stunned L would be the definition of an understatement. Instead of a raised fist smacking into L's face, it was Raito's lips that crashed down on L's jaw. L wondered if the amount of blows to the head that Raito had received that day had caused him to momentary lose his mind.

L didn't have the chance it dwell on what a shame it would be if Raito had been driven into insanity or to calculate about how long it would take for the teen to regain his senses. Wether or not Raito's actions were the product of confusion became of little importance. The hand that had previously held L by the shirt now snaked around his shoulders, palm resting on the back of L's head. Raito's fingers curled into his hair. L didn't move, but Raito seemed not to notice this. The lips that had met the side of L's chin smoothly found their original target.

Kissing, as well as most social interactions, fell into the category of experiences foreign to L. Despite the affection he knew that the gesture should entail, L had expected Raito's lips to be as fast and rough as the embrace the teen had him in. To L's surprise, Raito's lips felt cool and soft on his own.

The kiss was gentle. Raito didn't deepen it, seeming content with just their lips touching. L wasn't sure what to do. All he could register was that he wanted to be closer to Raito. He wanted to get as close as he could and not let go.

Acting on impulse, he hung his arms around Raito's neck, pulling the boy down to him. A surprised sound came from Raito as he fell on top of L's chest. It was only then that Raito broke the kiss, pulling his head back to look at L's face.

"I don't think I meant to do that," Raito's voice was as soft and intimate as a breath.

"I thought you were going to punch me again," L stated with honesty.

"Yeah," Raito hand's moved to touch the cheek that his fist had collided with before. "I meant to do that one."

"Do you regret it?" L couldn't stop himself from asking. "Not punching me. Do you regret…?"

L didn't know why he wasn't able to voice what had just happened.

"Do you?" Raito twirled his finger around a lock of L's hair, unconsciously bringing their faces closer.

"Are you flirting with me?" L was genuinely unsure.

"I think when I'm lying on top of you it goes a little bit past flirting," Raito told him with a grin.

In a burst of confidence, L raised his head and covered Raito's smile with his mouth. Raito emitted another surprised noise before giving up on holding the both of them up and collapsing into L. Raito was the one to deepen the kiss, sucking on L's lower lip before sliding his tongue into the detective's mouth. In that moment L gave into the bliss of being in Raito's arms, and let Raito take control. He silently wished that the two of them would not have to retreat back to reality in a few short minutes. He would have been content staying like that forever.

"How long?" L asked when Raito pulled away from him for air.

"How long have I wanted to kiss you?" Raito laid his head on L's shoulder as he asked.

"Yes," L rested the side of his cheek against L's forehead.

"I've been aware of it for not too long," Raito confessed. "It wasn't before we met face to face, if that's what you're asking. Although your intellect is very impressive, I'll admit that I'm shallow enough to need to see your face in order to be attracted to you."

"You're attracted to my appearance?" L was astonished and made no attempt to hide it.

Never had he thought himself to be remotely handsome. This wasn't something that he dwelled on, but he did acknowledge it. He had never had time to worry about his scrawny limbs or pale complexion. L had always thought that looks were something that only people as social or presentable as Raito bothered with. Only now did he wish that he made some sort of effort; he didn't mind the idea of being handsome for Raito.

"Do you think I would have kissed you if I wasn't?" Raito must have meant this as a joke, but L did not know how to respond to this. Taking the silence for it's true meaning, Raito pulled himself up to meet L's eyes. "You really don't think you're attractive?"

L directed his gaze to his hands, doing his best to repress a wave of self consciousness.

"L." He felt Raito's hand cup his cheek and guide his face back to the eyes of the boy on top of him. "You're gorgeous."

L couldn't help but smile at the completely serious expression that Raito was giving him. It was as if the teen saw L's low self esteem as a life or death circumstance. Speaking of life and death…

"We should be getting back to work," L voiced, gently removing Raito from his position so that he could stand up.

"Can you tell me how old you are now?" Raito asked suddenly. He tugged L's arms around him, so that they were once again tangled in an embrace.

"Do you think that you're entitled to this information because we kissed?" L asked back. He removed his arms from around Raito, and instead took the boys hands in his.

"No. I think we'd have to do some other things for me to be entitled," Raito shot L the most suggested look that the detective had ever received.

"This I will consider flirting," L remarked.

"Go ahead," the intensity of Raito's eyes did not falter.

L sighed.

"I'm too old for you," he said, dropping Raito's hands.

"Do you think I care?" Raito laughed, tucking a strand of L's messy hair behind his ear.

"No, but I wanted to give some warning," L muttered.

"I know that you're older than me," Raito told him flatly. "I've always known that."

L sighed.

"I'm twenty-four," he admitted.

"Really?" Raito looked taken aback. "Only twenty-four?"

"How old did you think I was?" L wondered.

"I don't know," Raito shrugged. "Twenty-eight?"

"It's nice to know that you think I'm a pedophile," L stated in a monotone.

"I think you're still considered a pedophile," Raito told him with a smirk.

"I suppose so," L tried to decide if this bothered him.

"We should go back out there before Mello gets the wrong idea," Raito suggested.

"What would be the right idea?" L countered.

"I don't know," Raito stood and walked to the door. He stopped right before opening it, and turned back to face L, giving the man's mouth a quick peck before continuing what he was doing.

L could not wipe away the smile that Raito's lips had brought.

* * *

Mello didn't bother wondering what was taking L and Light so long. He only hoped that their conversation centered on L apologizing for holding Light captive, and not the two of them agreeing over how much of a disgrace Mello was. Heartbreak and the pain that came with it were not new feelings to Mello. What surprised him was that it was not the fact that he had just blown his chance at succeeding L that was tormenting him. Matt lying to him hurt more than anything Mello could imagine.

Absentmindedly, he pulled his art book out of his school bag and opened it to a drawing of his roommate. He remembered that this had been what he was sketching the day that he met Light Yagami, although it was not the only picture of Matt that he had drawn. Maybe it was a little creepy that he drew his roommate so much without asking permission or even telling him. Then again, out of the two of them, Mello was not the one in the wrong when it came to secrets.

As he stared at his drawing, Mello remembered how long it had taken him to get the shading on Matt's hair right. If he did show the picture to anyone, this detail would have been his highest bragging point. It had taken serval class periods for him to be happy with the picture, and when he had finished the picture he was of the opinion that it was as impressive as Matt's actual hair. He had tossed out that opinion after Matt told him that his red hair was natural. Was that a lie as well? Not that it mattered…

Mello shook himself out of his thoughts when the door to L's bedroom opened and L and Light emerged. He quickly stuffed his art book into his bag, but not before Light saw the picture that it had been open to. Mello could only described the look in Light's eyes as pity, and chose not to hold that gaze. L's expression was oddly happy given the situation. Mello couldn't even guess at how their confrontation had cheered the both of them up.

"I have an idea," Light directed this to L as the two of them sat down in the remaining chairs. "And you're not going to like it."

"I'm sure you're right, but carry on," L replied.

"I think we should use the death note." Mello didn't know what this meant, but it cause an appalled look to pass over L's face, but Light raised a hand a quickly kept talking. "Not to kill anyone. I mean, one of us should make the deal for the shinigami eyes. Then we can pretend to predict that the next three victims will be boys that aren't meant to die anytime soon."

"And when B tries to kill them, we catch him in the act," L finished.

"Yeah," Light nodded.

"What are shinigami eyes?" Mello didn't hide the fact that he had no idea what the other two were talking about.

"I'll explain," Light volunteered and L nodded in an almost disinterested manner. The story Light told Mello was the most unbelievable thing that he had heard. This was saying something, considering the revelation that Mello had been forced to experience not long before.

"Raito-kun should understand that I still am not fond of the idea of using the death note," L continued once Light was done with the explanation.

"I know," Light said. "But we wouldn't be hurting anyone with it."

"We would be sacrificing half of a life," L argued. "And I don't like predicting the death of any of the students, considering what happened the last time."

"What else do we have to go on?" Light asked. "Three of them are probably going to die anyway. You're to one who told me that B doesn't back doesn't on anything."

"He won't," L agreed.

"Exactly," Light said. "I'll make the trade, since it was my idea."

"No," Mello spoke, the volume of his own voice surprised himself. "It's my fault he knew who you predicted in the first place. I'll make the trade."

"I can't allow that," L said sternly.

"Because I'm your successor?" Mello challenged, he gave a sarcastic laugh. "We both know that I just ruined my chance at becoming you. Even if everyone will be able to forgive my mistake, there is no way that I'll be able to beat Near with it on my record. My life's ambition is over. I don't care if a shinigami takes half of it now."

"You have more to live for than this," was all that L could say.

"Sure," Mello knew that he won. "But I'm making the deal."

L nodded his head once.

"I'll call Misa," Light suggested. "She can bring Rem here."

"Yes," L said.

Light then excused himself from the room. Mello didn't ask why Light thought he would need privacy for this phone call. When Light hadn't returned several minutes later, L also left the room to go check on him. This apparently didn't speed up whatever Light got side tracked doing, and neither of them returned to the room until Misa and the shinigami arrived. Mello didn't know what was so interesting in the kitchen that prevented them from coming back into the living room, but wasn't intrigued enough to check himself.

Mello wondered if he'd have to go back to Lowood after they finalized their plan. He knew that it would be nearly impossible to avoid Matt until they caught Beyond. Not to mention L would tel him that this would only make both Matt and Beyond suspicious. Mello still dreaded the next time he would have to see the redhead's face. How was he supposed to remain calm around him or pretend that nothing happened?

When Misa came, L retrieved a black notebook that Mello took to be the death note from his bedroom. He held it out to Mello, but Light lowered L's hand with his own before Mello could take it.

"You might want to sit down first," Light advised.

"Whatever," Mello rolled his eyes and plopped back down in his chair.

L handed him the notebook again, and Mello didn't hesitate before taking it. Automatically, he directed his gaze to behind Misa where he got the impression that the shinigami was standing. To himself he would silently admit that seeing the monster was the slightest bit startling. However, outwardly he maintained a collected and undaunted facade as his eyes took in the skeletal figure before him.

"You can call me Mello," he said to it.

"Rem," it replied.

"Can I stand up now?" He smirked at Light.

"Do whatever you want," Light muttered, rolling his eyes.

"You don't have to go through with this," L told him. Mello knew what he really meant was 'please don't go through with this.'

"Someone has to," Mello shrugged as if the decision meant nothing to him.

"I could," L said softly.

"Out of all of us, you are the one who certainly should not," Mello's voice was as stern as L's had been before. "Your prat successor isn't nearly ready to take on your job, and the world still needs L."

"Mello." The completely open expression of regret that L gave him was overwhelming.

"So, do I need you say something fancy or do I just say that I make the trade?" He directed his attention to the shinigami.

"If you're ready, all you need to do is state it," the shinigami confirmed.

"Okay," Mello took a breath. "I make the trade."

Mello half expected his eyes to glaze over with pain, or his vision to be engulfed by a red haze. Neither happened. The sensation was barely noticeable at all, he honestly thought that putting on contacts seemed more painful than acquiring shinigami eyes. With a feelingless blink of an eye, Mello was able to see the names and lifespans of everyone in the room with him.

L was the first person that he focused on, and Mello didn't hold back his laugh when he silently read the detective's real name. L Lawliet. He had to admit that it was clever, for no one would guess that L's name was the letter itself. The detective's most dangerous secret was hidden in plain sight.

"Oh," L must have realized what Mello was laughing at.

"Was that your idea?" Mello wondered.

"Yes," a smug look formed on L's face. "And you're only laughing because it was a genius idea."

"I guess," Mello grinned.

"What are you talking about?" Light asked loudly.

"Nothing." Mello was about to dismiss the dubious look he knew would be on Light's face, but froze one his gaze met the teen. A chill that Mello was not sure he'd ever be able to warm, ran through his blood.

"What?" Light's suspicion morphed into nervous confusion. "Why are you gaping at me?"

"Mello?" He had no idea how L had crossed the room, but the next thing he knew the detective's questioning eyes were inches from his face.

"Light," Mello murmured.

"Yeah?" Light raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry," Mello stammered. "You're going to die tomorrow."

* * *

 **So...someone finally kissed in this fic!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Callicanios, it's okay to sound childish, he can be a meanie-head sometimes. Beyond is also one of my favorite antagonists, it's hard not to both love and hate him (at least for me that is). He's far more fun to write for than I imagined. Sorry about the last cliff hang, you probably want to kill me after this one...**

 **Rice Waffles, I'm really glad that you found the way I wrote Beyond creepy, the moments in his POV might be what I'm most proud of in this fic. You have a point with Misora's death. I was trying to subtly portray her capabilities slipping since the BB case, but you're right when you say she wasn't out of options and wouldn't surrender easily. My intentions at the end of the last chapter were for the reader to sympathize with Light, not to think that he got what was coming to him. I don't hate Kira.** **The reason that I incorporated Kira-like thoughts into the story was partly because the death note is a intersection plot devise, but also because I agree with them and think AU Light should. Personally, I feel that the fandom tends to soften L, when in the cannon he used unorthodox methods to do what needed to be done. Although he was wrong in thinking Light betrayed him, his actions were based more on more than just a hunch. Everything pointed to Light. Thanks for your review. I don't get a lot of constructive criticism, and it was helpful to hear a different opinion.**

 **Bluxpudding, nice, you were the first to call it.**

 **Guest, good prediction.**

 **Cyinamas, sorry...**

 **Guest, thanks for the review.**

 **Thank you to everyone reading! Please review!**


	10. Chapter Ten

L's gaze jerked from Mello's shocked and apologetic expression to Raito's stunned face.

"What?" Raito stammered, the word was barely audible. L watched the boy visibly pale.

"Are you sure?" Misa piped up. Her shaking voice was a note too high in the fear and shock that L knew she was feeling. "Maybe you're reading it wrong."

"No," Mello shook his head. His voice was lower than normal. It was clear he didn't want to say what he knew he had to; L had been in this position many times before but had hoped that it would be years before the blonde had to know what it felt like. "I don't know how I understand how to read it. But I do, and I'm right."

"No," L heard his own voice rebound in the small room. "That may be what you see, but that doesn't mean we can't stop it."

"L, it's okay. I—"

"Raito Yagami, if you dare say that this is 'okay' I will kick you in the face again," L's tone was sharp. He spoke the words the shrewd way one would slap someone they cared about. Raito's eyes winded at the outburst, but he said nothing.

"I'm sorry," L took a breath. He was scaring Raito when he should be soothing him. "I didn't mean to snap at you, but I'm not going to let you die."

Raito nodded. His eyes locked onto L's, and L was pleased to see a flicker of hope in them. He was going to save that spark.

"This just means that we'll have to act faster than I thought," L walked to the coffee table and picked up a file. He handed it to Mello before addressing the boy. "This includes pictures of twenty potential victims. Choose three who aren't going to die anytime soon and, once you get back to your room, tell your roommate that the three are going to be killed tomorrow night."

"Got it, boss." Mello nodded, knowing it was better not to ask questions until he was sure L was done giving instructions.

"Raito-kun," L turned back to the teen. "I want you to stay with Misa and Rem for the next two days. Misa, make sure he doesn't leave your apartment."

"I will," she assured him. She looked calmer now.

"And where will you be while I'm hiding in safety?" Raito asked in a tense tone.

"Mello and I are going to apprehend Beyond," L stated. "I'll call the school as L and tell them to quietly evacuate the three boys and their roommates. Once I'm sure they're far from the campus, I will personally place cameras in all three rooms. Tomorrow night Mello and I will stake out the room of the first victim."

"You're going to catch him on your own?" Raito bore an expression of completely justifiable worry.

"We will be armed," L added, knowing full well that piece of information would to little to stop the boy's anxiety. "And I think you know how strong I can be when I want to."

Raito blushed and L smiled inwardly.

"You three should go," he said. "We want Mello to return before his roommate goes to sleep."

"That's an encounter that I'm not looking forward to," Mello muttered, but headed to the door. L felt sorry for him.

"Could you give us a minute?" Raito asked Misa, he had only moved to turn his head in her direction.

"Sure," Misa nodded. L saw a tight smile appear on her lips, she glanced at him before looking back to Raito. "We'll just wait outside."

As soon as the door closed Raito flew across the distance between him and L. He engulfed the detective in an embrace so tight it was painful, but neither of them complained. L let his eyes close as he breathed Raito in. He refused to let himself acknowledge that this could be the last time the two of them saw each other.

"I thought I told you to warn me next time you did this?" L said fondly.

"Sorry." He could hear Raito's smirk. "Maybe I will next time."

L rested his head on Raito's shoulder. He could hear Raito's heart beating, and moved one of his hands to cover that spot on the boy's chest. L felt it's rhythm, which at that moment was more beautiful and melodic than any song he had ever heard.

"Thank you," Raito's voice was barely audible. "For trying to save me."

"I'm not letting you go that easily," L replied, he tried to make his tone lighter, but felt the weight of his words.

"But," Raito hesitated, his hand closed around the hand resting on his chest. "If I do die, I think it was worth it."

"Nothing is worth your life, Raito-kun," L said solemnly.

"Justice is," Raito disagreed. "Working with you is."

"Please don't say that," L whispered. He couldn't bare the thought of Raito dying for him. Dying himself would be easier than living with the blood of his only friend on his hands.

"Why?" Raito pulled back to see L's face but kept his arms around him. "It's true. You're worth it."

"Raito—"

L wanted to tell the boy that he wasn't. He wanted to make Raito listen to this and accept it. But Raito cut off L's protest by pulling him into a kiss. This one was not like the others before it. L could feel Raito shaking as he clung to him, and knew that he was no better off himself. L knew that Raito wasn't going to let him argue or talk much on what they were getting themselves into, so he tried to channel his thoughts and feelings into the movement. It was clear that Raito was doing the same, for L could feel the teen's longing in his mouth and hands.

Again he felt the world around slipping away as his mind filled with the desire to be as close to Raito as he could. Only now this desperation was driven by fear not longing. L wanted to pulled Raito close and never let him go, because he knew that the boy was safe as long as his arms were around him.

When he was young, and more opened to the possibility of the supernatural, L had wondered what it would be like to cheat death. A year or so of being L had knocked this fantasy out of him. He knew the horrors of the world, and didn't think it would be fair for him to carry their weight longer than his time permitted. Now, however, L knew he would do all that he could to cheat Raito's designated death.

"Your friend is waiting outside," L reminded the both of them when they finally pulled their lips away from each other.

"Yeah," Raito's head fit into the crook of L's neck, and L pulled him into a tight hug. "You know, I can't leave if you don't let go."

"Of course I know," L laughed, but didn't feel the least bit happy. "I don't want you to leave."

"Good," Raito smiled as he pulled away. "I'll see you when it's all over."

"Yes," L made his voice certain.

"And then I'll give you warning before I kiss you."

* * *

Matt wasn't one for self disgust. Sure, there were plenty of times in his short life where he recognized that what he was doing was wrong. Yet, in all of these situations he had convinced himself that he was doing the wrong thing for the right reason. In the end, he knew that those around him would hate him, but he had never cared before.

Right now, Matt didn't believe he was in the wrong. Still, he knew that Michael, or should he say _Mello_ , was going to hate him once he found out the truth. Knowing Mello, he would eventually figure it all out. Matt had held onto the hope that everything would be over once that day came. He could live with his own shame, he could burry that the way he always did, but seeing it reflected in eyes of others was a nuisance. He knew that if the eyes belonged to Mello it would only make the feeling worse. No, it would make the feeling tangible. That he knew he would not be able to stand.

"Hey," Matt greeted the object of his thoughts as Mello entered the room. "That was long."

"I'm failing Physics," Mello told him stiffly.

 _Lie._ Matt grinned inwardly for recognizing it. Although, Mello usually was not this obvious. His smugness evaporated. Something was wrong.

"There's something else too," Mello said in a nervous tone. Matt couldn't register if this was genuine or not, but given the cold air Mello was in today, Matt was leaning towards the former.

"Yeah?" He asked nonchalantly.

"It's about the case," Mello added.

"What about it?" Matt made himself look more alert. "Do you know who the next victims will be?"

"Yeah," Mello nodded.

Matt listened to him list off three names, and tried to mentally put faces to them.

"When do you think he'll kill them?" Matt didn't fully expect an answer.

"Tomorrow," Mello's voice was grave.

"Really?" Matt's surprise was genuine.

"He's been increasing it rapidly," Mello tried to explain himself. "I don't think it's a real pattern, but because of that I think he'd want it to be as quick as possible."

There had to be more to this reasoning. What wasn't Mello telling him? Did Matt's roommate no longer trust him? Was that why he was acting so stiff? Matt considered the possibility that Mello had put two and two together in the time between their classes and now. It was unlikely, considering he hadn't done anything recently that should have tipped the blonde off.

"Are you going to tell the school?" Matt asked, referring to the future deaths.

"I don't know," Mello sat down on his bed, he rested his head on his hands.

"What aren't you telling me?" Matt bluntly asked.

"Nothing," Mello looked up in surprise. "That's all I know."

"You're not…" Realization dawned on Matt. "You're not going to try to confront the killer, are you?"

"What? No, of course not." Mello stammered a little too quickly.

 _So that's what you're hiding. You foolish, rash boy._

"You're going to die," Matt stated.

"I'm not going to do anything reckless," Mello ran a hand through his hair. Matt didn't know why the blonde's outburst came out a note flat. "I think I'm going to tell the police."

"Really?" Matt did not believe a word of this. "When?"

"Tomorrow night," Mello's eyes did not meet his. "Half an hour before I think it will happen. That way they'll get there in time to both stop and catch him."

"I'll come with you," Matt tested.

"No," Mello's voice was level. "If you're out of this room, even if you're with me, I'm just going to worry about you. He killed Ms. Seto because she was onto him, there's a chance that could happen to us."

"And you'd rather it just happen to you?" He didn't have to act defensive, he was surprised that Mello still saw him as someone who had to be isolated from all danger.

"Yes." Now Mello looked up at him. The stare caught him off guard, not because of the intensity but because Matt could read through that and see what was behind it. There was nothing. "If I die please let me know that you're safe."

"You're going to be fine," Matt pretended to relent. "But I won't leave this room if that's what you want."

"Thank you."

Matt nodded. In his mind he was already planning what he would have to do once Mello was asleep. Tomorrow everything was going to end, wether he or Mello were ready for it or not.

* * *

Mello threw his book bag onto the bed next to him. He was slightly worried that he was going to throw up. The anger and betrayal inside of him had boiled into a sick feeling. This tugged at his gut, but he refused to show any of it. If he could leave the room now, he would, but he didn't want Matt to think that anything was wrong.

Planning to catch the killer was a solid reason for him to be anxious, but he knew the second that he showed the slightest sine of hostility toward his "friend" it was game over. This almost made him laugh darkly. Now Matt's love of video games felt ironic.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep," Matt informed him. Mello realized that the boy's full attention was still on him.

"Can I show you something?" Mello suddenly asked, forcing a smile that tasted like metal on his face.

"Sure," Matt looked more than a little apprehensive. "Unless it's weird and I'm better off not knowing."

"I refuse to be held accountable for your definition of weird," Mello joked. This also tasted wrong, but it sounded alright to him.

"Now I think I probably am better of knowing," Matt laughed. It hurt Mello's ears. "But curiosity killed the cat."

"Meow," Mello deadpanned.

He reached into his book bag and retrieved his sketch book. As he flipped through the pages, he turned the face so that Matt couldn't see the drawings. When he found the picture he was looking for, he handed the book to Matt.

"Is this me?" The redhead gaped.

"No, it's some random person who just happens to have the exact same face stature, clothes, and hair as you do." Sarcasm was easier to fake. This didn't come as much of a surprise to Mello, and he was glad that he made use of the attitude enough for Matt not to question him.

"This is amazing," a smile spread across Matt's face. Mello was reminded of the sick feeling in his gut.

"Thanks," he muttered. "Although you technically just complimented yourself, considering it's a picture of you."

"Oh, I'm an amazing thing to draw, but you're a far more amazing artist," Matt told him. Mello couldn't hear a false note in this.

"Now I feel a little less bad for not asking your permission before using you as a model," Mello tried to laugh and it didn't work. Luckily Matt was too busy marveling at the picture to notice.

"Why didn't you ask?" Matt wondered. "It's kind of creepy to draw me without me knowing you are."

"It's creepy to draw you in the first place," Mello corrected. "It would have been worse if you asked me not to and I drew you anyway, which I probably would have."

"Yeah," Matt grinned. "Sometimes I think you don't care at all about how the people around you feel."

"Maybe I don't," Mello's voice dropped as these words escaped his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Matt looked at him now.

"Fine," Mello shrugged. "Well, not fine. You know…"

"Yeah," Matt's eyes now found the floor. "Could I keep this?"

"No," Mello surprised himself by answering so quickly. "I want it for after we both leave Lowood."

"That'll be in a while," Matt's voice was light again. "Unless you're not planning to graduate here."

"I don't know what I'm planning," Mello shrugged, before adding a lie. "My parents will probably pull me out when the killer is caught."

"That makes sense," Matt nodded. "Come to think of it, mine might as well."

"I have the feeling Lowood's student body is about to decrease," Mello continued. "Some of the staff might leave as well, after what happened to Ms. Seto is made public."

"We're going to say goodbye sooner than I thought," Matt's voice was near mournful. Mello didn't want to look at the boy's face, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. He knew what he was seeing was a lie, but he could feel himself being sucked in despite this.

"That's why I want the picture," for the first time Mello's words didn't feel wrong. "For when all of this is over."

"We'll still keep in touch, right?" Matt's tone was creeping away from sorrow.

Mello reminded himself that, if everything when according to Beyond and Matt's plan, he would be dead. The fact that he could now see when Matt was destined to die—could see that Matt wasn't even his real name—felt like a bad joke. Mello decided to hang onto the thought that the redhead would spend these years in a jail cell of assisting Beyond.

"Of course," Mello replied.

"Good," Matt smiled at him. "Because I'm going to miss you."

 _You better._

* * *

"They should have check in with us an hour ago," Raito paced back and forth in Misa's living room. He could feel the anxiety building up inside of him, and didn't want to imagine what he must look like to the girl and shinigami watching him.

"Didn't Ryuzaki say it might take longer?" Misa reminded him, her eyes following his movement from her spot on the couch. "You know, when he called you before they started the stake out and told you not to freak out."

"Something is wrong," he muttered more to himself than to her.

"You see, this is what he meant by 'freak out'," Misa told him, her voice a dry exasperation.

"This is too easy," he seethed in frustration, ignoring her rationality.

"Don't complain," she scolded. "Would you rather Michael and Ryuzaki be in danger right now?"

"That's not what I mean," he groaned, then stopped abruptly and pivoted to face her. "What did you just say?"

"I said don't complain," she answered, giving him an annoyed expression.

"No," he shook his head to order his thoughts. "I mean after that. You said that Michael and Ryuzaki might be in danger."

"Actually I said—"

"That's it!" Raito cut her off loudly. "That's what's missing."

"I'm not following," she informed him.

"This whole time we were acting like Ryuzaki was the target," he spoke through his thoughts more for his own benefit than hers. She wouldn't understand this, but he needed to make sure what he was thinking made sense before he did anything.

"We never questioned Beyond Birthday's motive," he could hear how frantic his own voice was, but didn't have the surplus energy to care. "When that's the most suspicious element of this case. Beyond Birthday never tried to kill L directly because he knew he wouldn't be able to. He may be more bent on revenge after being locked in an asylum for two years, but why would that make him think that he could achieve what is beyond his skill level?"

"Are you actually asking me?" Misa deadpanned, she knew full well that he was not.

"He wants to spite L," Raito realized. "He's always wanted to spite L, because he knows he can't directly hurt him. So how do you hurt someone you'll never be able to touch?"

"You hurt the people closest to them," Misa understood this part. "Wouldn't he come after you then?"

"No," Raito shook his head, at this moment he was completely safe. "He doesn't know about me, no one does. But he would know about L's successors; being a former one himself he would know a lot about them. That must be why he kept this case low profile. He wanted to attract the attention of Wammy's House, but not L himself."

"You're saying that—"

"Mello is the target," Raito finished. This was the only thing that made sense. He looked back at Misa as dread filled him. "I need to warn them. Now."

"You can't," she stood up from her seat. "We're supposed to stay here. That's what you told Ryuzaki you would do."

"Where'd you hide your death note pages?" he asked, mentally dismissing what she had pointed out. He had promised L that he's stay in the safety of Misa's apartment, but that was before he realized the danger that both L and Mello were in. If either were in his shoes, they would do exactly the same.

"I'm not going to tell you," she crossed her arms. "Ryuzaki said that the only way to save you was to keep you here."

"I'm going wether you help me or not," Raito walked past her and into her bedroom.

"Raito!"

He began opening her dresser drawers, stopping at the one where she kept her underwear. He pulled this drawer out fully, and retrieved the two sheets of paper at the back of it. Quickly he folded up the pages, stuffed them into his pants pocket, and grabbed a ballpoint pen from her dresser.

"You couldn't come up with a more creative hiding spot?" He didn't expect an answer as he stalked back through the living room and in the direction of the exit.

"Stop it!" Misa screamed, darting in front of him and planting herself in between him and the door.

"Misa." He knew he could force her out of his way if he had to, but he didn't like that idea. Not to mention he was more than a little afraid that Rem might kill him if he tried anything violent with Misa. Maybe he could convince her to let him go. "I'm not going to stand by an do nothing."

"And I'm not going to let you walk to your death!" she shouted, tears in her eyes. "You'll die if you go! Don't you understand that?"

He wasn't going to consider how correct she probably was. Not that doing so would make much of a difference. Raito knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he stayed to the side and let both L and Mello get hurt when his knowledge might be able to save them.

Misa wouldn't see this, for she saw that keeping Raito there was the only thing she could do to protect him. At this rate talking her into letting him go would take all night, and he needed to get to L and Mello as soon as possible. That left only one option.

"I'm sorry," he really was.

"I don't—"

He didn't let her finish that sentence. In a swift motion, Raito placed his right hand on her chin and smashed their lips together. He felt her freeze in shock (similar to how L had the day before) and took that opportunity to spin the both of them around so that his back was now to the door. He quickly released her and darted to the door, opening it and bolting down the hall.

"Raito!" He heard her shout behind him, but knew that she would not be able to catch up.

Raito knew kissing her was a cold and manipulative move, but she hadn't left him any other options.

He ran down the hallway and into the dark street. He calculated that it would take at least half an hour to reach the school if he didn't slow his pace. Silently, he prayed that he would make it in time.

Raito was so concentrated on getting to Lowood and figuring out what he would do once he arrived, that he didn't notice the dark figure behind him until a blow to his head threw him to the ground. He felt his exposed arm skid on the sidewalk, and winced in pain. He didn't have time to noticed that the glass of his wrist watch was cracked open. Not knowing if the hit had been meant to knock him out, Raito tried to scramble to his feet. Before he could right himself, he was being straddled by a man with dark hair and a pale complexion. For a second Raito saw L in the man's face, but there was a clear difference between the two of them. L's dark eyes were soft but guarded, but this man had a crazed and thirsty look in his. It was this look that told Raito who his attacker was.

Beyond Birthday clasped Raito's throat in his hands and began to apply pressure. Raito remembered being told by his father that if someone was ever trying to choke him he should poke their eyes. His arms were becoming heavier and heavier, but he desperately flailed them at the face of the man on top of him. When he discovered that his trembling hands couldn't reach past Beyond Birthday's shoulders, he instead tried to push the man off of him. His struggles did nothing but incite a shrill laugh from his attacker. Raito could feel his breath being squeezed out of him, it burned more than he would have ever imagined.

Unable to fight anymore, Raito let his arms fall to his sides and gave into the looming darkness.

* * *

 **So...who hates me?**

 **Reviews:**

 **Bluxpudding, technically you were right. Originally this and the next chapter were going to be combined. Then I added the Mello segment and a bit to the other chapter and decided that 10k was a bit too long for one chap.**

 **Callicanios, I'm glad you thought the last chapter was a whirlwind, that was what I was going for. Haha, maybe rattling his brain isn't the best idea.**

 **Cyinamas, well I'm happy that I broke your heart in an unexpected way (and I mean that in the nicest way possible). No, they really don't have any luck.**

 **Blazedoll, I wish I had a better answer for you on Mello being able to use the eyes right away, but this was one of the parts where I took some liberty with the cannon. As my sixth-grade English teacher once told me, "I have the pen" (well, keyboard) therefore I have the power to manipulate what I feel the need to for the purpose of plot and drama.**

 **Guest, yes, for all Watari knows at the moment, L is still in America.**

 **Guest, thanks for the review!**

 **Rice Waffles, I'm glad you liked the choice I made with Matt and thought the ending of the last chapter was suspenseful!**


	11. Chapter Eleven

Of course it was the moment L thought the night had turned out to be a waste of his time that full hell broke loose. He and Mello were each hiding in separate conners of the first evacuated victim's room. L had a clear view of the door and Mello could see the window. These were the only possible entrances, and the pair were ready for their killer to make his entrance at any moment. Well, they at least _had_ been ready.

They had been sitting there for over an hour, and L could practically feel the impatience radiating off of Mello. He was tempted to tell the boy to settle down, for his high-strung energy was doing nothing to calm L's nerves. He himself was tired of waiting, that he would admit. L was uncomfortable in his hiding place, and the pistol that he had brought for security purposes was too big for the pocket he had shoved it into causing it to press into his leg. Given Mello's current irritation, L was starting to regret arming him as well, lest the blonde becoming even more bored and decided to play with the gun.

That was when the laptop that L had kept tucked out of view sounded a loud alert.

"And he told _me_ to turn my phone off," Mello muttered this, but it was clear that L had been meant to hear it.

L whipped the device open with speed that he doubted was good for it. His eyes frantically scanned the screen for what he hoped the alert was not for. L's stomach dropped and the blood rushed from his face when his fears were realized.

"Is something wrong?" Mello's annoyance had turned to anxiousness. L had no doubt that the blonde could read L's face like an open book.

"Yes," L had no need to sugar coat the situation. "Raito's tracker has stopped responding."

"But he's supposed to be with Misa and the shinigami," Mello's face reflected the creeping worry L himself was feeling.

"How did I let myself believe that he'd stay put?" L laughed darkly. From the beginning he had been marveling at how alike he and Raito were. Of course the boy wouldn't listen when told to stay out of danger. That was something L himself would never do, especially at his age.

L produced his cellphone from his pocket and dialed the number Misa had given him for her apartment. She picked up within seconds. This did not quell L's nerves.

"Ryuzaki?" he heard her high voice on the other end of the line and immediately identified fear.

"Where is he?" L bypassed the formalities.

"I hoped he was with you," Misa's voice broke with a sob. "I'm sorry. Misa tried to stop him from leaving, but Raito wouldn't listen! Then he kissed me and—"

"He what?" L asked before he could stop himself. He mentally chided himself for asking the jealous question when there was work to be done. "Never mind, that doesn't matter. When did he leave your apartment?"

"Less than fine minutes ago," she answered, voice was quivering.

"Where did he say he was going?"

"To find you," she paused for a moment. "He said that he needed to warn you. He said you're not the target."

"Who did he say was?" L knew that Raito's revelation must be enough for him to risk not only his own life, but L's and Mello's had he made it to the room an exposed their hiding places.

"Mello," her voice still shaking, and he was grateful that he could understand her through it. "Ryuzaki, how did you know Raito left my apartment?"

"I don't have time to explain," he told her harshly. Then added in a softer tone, more considerate: "We'll get him back. I promise."

"Okay," she whispered, hopefully trusting his words.

L hung up the phone without saying anything more to the girl. He let this new piece of information sink in. Raito had just given him the final piece of the puzzle, but that left putting it together to him alone. Or did it?

"Mello," L turned to the blonde. "The stake out is off, B's not coming."

Mello nodded, and L appreciated that the blonde didn't feel the need to ask for more details or comment on this fact.

"Grab your roommate," he instructed. "I need answers fast."

If kidnapping and interrogating B's spy was the only way to get them, then so be it. L didn't have time to do things the right way. Every second that he wasted was another tick of the time bomb that was Raito's life.

"On it," Mello darted from the room.

L didn't move.

"Raito is gone and Mello's the target," he murmured to himself.

This made sense! Raito must have deduced that B was going after L's man under cover, who he would assume was L's successor. The percentage of this being a coincidence was minimal, but L doubted that B had known that Raito had come to this conclusion and attacked him for this purpose. And, if Raito was correct, why hadn't B tried to kill Mello earlier?

"Because he doesn't know that Mello is my successor," L realized out loud.

B took Raito because he thinks that Raito is!

There was a good and a bad side to this. If B thought that Raito was L's successor Raito was surely still alive, for B would want to make the boy's death memorable. However, this double edged sword meant that, at that very moment, Raito was suffering all of the pain that B could not inflict on L himself. The taste of metallic hatred and fear filled L's mouth, and he fought to regain control of his emotions. He couldn't save Raito if he was swimming in rage and fear. Right now facts needed to be L's best friends once again.

If Raito was B's target, then that explained why Raito and Misa had been attacked by B's ally. But why had B stopped there? If he wanted Raito gone so badly, he surely could have found another opportunity to kill him. After all, Raito had to walk alone at night on occasion, and it wasn't as if B hadn't figured out easy and undetectable access to the Lowood campus.

Had B somehow gained news of L's arrival and wanted to lay low? No, this didn't fit. If B didn't want L's attention he wouldn't have increased the deaths. Not to mention that theory would assume that there was something special about the present night.

Why take Raito now? There had to be something significant to Beyond about that night. It was possible B knew that L planned to catch him, but not even L had known he would act now until the night before. And he'd only decide to speed up his plan because he'd found out about Raito's lifespan….

"No," L shook his head in pure disbelief. His voice was so soft that he could only barely hear it himself. "That's impossible."

* * *

Beyond dumped the unconscious boy onto the basement floor. Getting him here had been a long process. Beyond wasn't just referring to the trouble it had been carrying his body all the way to the hideout. For a skinny Japanese kid, Light Yagami was heavy. Still, that was not the hard part.

Beyond's source had been vague when it came to details. He hadn't even been told what L's successor looked like. The source had proudly given him the boy's class schedule. At the time, he thought that narrowing it down would take ages.

Yet luck was on his side. He chose the smallest class the boy attended to look over. It was easy to fin the smartest student in the art class. The school records were not hard to hack. Surveillance on Yagami proved fruitful, and now Beyond had his prize.

He looked at the red numbers floating above the boy's slack face. A smile curled his lips. Luck truly was on his side.

He didn't like the word fate, but he knew that his escape from the asylum was a fluke. This motivated him to seize the ripe opportunity. He knew that he'd end up in flames again once this was over. He didn't delude himself of that. Life was something he would always be deprived of. Death had always been his curse.

Beyond was most proud of how quick he had formulated his plan. He was quite capable of escaping alone, but he knew he was going to need others for his revenge. This was why he broke out with the four inmates.

Inmate-number-one's design was to die. This wasn't Beyond's fault. He had chosen the man because of his death date. This was the first blood that Beyond had spilled since he was locked up. It rejuvenated him. He almost wanted to thank the dead man.

He knew that inmate-number-two was going to die soon as well. He used this to his advantage. It was easy to convince the man to rob the store. Beyond savored the feeling of manipulation. He loved pulling stings. The sensation was almost as thrilling as hushing out a life. When L found out about the death, Beyond knew it would look like inmate-number-two had left the group. This would throw off the purpose of the next two.

Inmate-number-three knew that Beyond was smarter than him. He had no idea how much of a fool he really was. Beyond sent this one to America. He told the former inmate who to kill and how to do it. Beyond understood that L would catch him eventually. That didn't matter. Inmate-number-three was only necessary for a few short months.

Inmate-number-four was not meant to die. Beyond chose him because this man's life span was longer than his plan. Inmate-number-four was not crucial, but Beyond enjoyed having someone at his disposal. This man was security. Beyond still did not understand how he died. But soon that would not matter. Soon nothing would matter.

A long time ago, Beyond knew he would have wanted an explanation. There were many things that he used to want. There were also many things that he used to have.

He took his own sanity for granted. In his rare moments of true honestly, Beyond knew that the real BB was gone. That man died when Naomi Misora and L beat him. Now only a shattered fragment was left. Yet that was still enough of him to take what he wanted.

Beyond pulled his thoughts back to the present. He took the knife from his pocket. Playfully, he twirled the blade in his fingers. His eyes moved up and down the handsome boy's body. Where to start?

There was no need to stain the boy's pretty white shirt. He peeled the article of clothing off and tossed it to the side. This gave him a better view of the purple bruises that were already forming on the boy's neck.

His mind was suddenly overcome with images of similar bruises on a different, more delicate neck. Beyond frantically shook his head. He blinked wildly. No matter how hard he fought to expel it, the corpse stayed etched into his memory.

He'd stay away from the neck for now. That was for the best. He wanted this night to last anyway.

Beyond grasped the left hand of Light Yagami. He admired the boys manicured finger tips for only a second. Smoothly, he shoved the blade of the knife between the nail and remainder of the boy's pointer finger.

The boy howled in pain. He jolted awake. Beyond watched the fear fill Yagami's face as their eyes met.

He swiftly flicked the blade, severing the blood coated nail from the finger. Yagami stifled another scream. His eyes pooled with hate and pain. The boy tried to pull away from Beyond's grasp, but was easily shoved back to the ground.

Yes. Beyond couldn't help chuckling to himself. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Mello's fist collided with the wall of his empty room. He didn't have the time—or the esteem—to wonder at how it had not left a dent. The night before Matt told him that he would stay in their room—he has _promised_ that he would stay in their room—but now he was no where to be found.

Twenty four hours was not a long period of time, but it was enough for Mello to fully process that Matt worked for B. So why was the final piece of full betrayal only now fitting into his emotional puzzle? He had understood that L was right and Matt was a liar. Was he really holding on to one last shred of hope before letting go of the idea that his friend was what he said he was?

He didn't want to admit, even to himself, that what Matt had said about not wanting to say goodbye had fazed him. Even in the moment of that conversation, Mello had reminded himself who Matt was. Therefore, the look in the redhead's eyes should not feel burned in Mello's memory.

He shouldn't be stooping to this level! He had more control of his emotion. Granted, he didn't have very much, but it was supposed to be enough to prevent him from falling from a trick that he was fully aware of.

Shaking his head, Mello tried to focus on what needed to be done. His initial concern that Light had been murdered (or was about to be) won the battle for control of his mental state. He bolted down the hallway and back to the room he had left L in.

"I can't find him." He wasn't surprised that L had not moved from his position in front of his laptop. If Mello was upset, he could only imagine the whirlwind of emotions L was currently in the mix of. "Do you think he's with B?"

"It's more than possible," L's eyes were not on the laptop but they didn't meet Mello's gaze. "You could see the day that Raito's life ran out, correct?"

"Yes," Mello knew that L wouldn't ask a question he knew the answer to for no reason.

"The day only?"

"Yes," Mello confirmed.

"What did Misa Amane's life span look like?" Now his eyes met Mello, and the blonde silently wished the L would resume staring at the wall. He felt like the intensity of L's gaze was powerful enough to wear a hole through the middle of him.

"It was long," Mello couldn't remember the exact numbers. "Didn't Light say that she was given the rest of the life of the shinigami that died for her?"

"She was supposed to die the day that her and Raito were attacked," L sounded like he was talking more to himself than to Mello. "If he knew this and knew that Raito would run out of time soon, then this was the perfect moment to take Raito."

"What are you talking about?" Mello watched as L stood from his crouched position and began to pace the small room (thankfully not in Mello's direction).

"But then the inmate died and Misa's years expanded," L continued in a mumble. "He wouldn't understand this, since he couldn't have one of the notes, so instead of trying again he kept his distance. Yes, _yes_! That's why he waited until now."

"L!" Mello's voice reverberated in the small space.

"Yes?" L looked back at him, a neutral expression on his face.

"What are you going on about?" He demanded.

"Beyond Birthday has the shinigami eyes," L carried the weight of these words without any pride in discovery. "That's why he took Raito tonight. It's why he didn't bother coming after any of the three boys we evacuated."

Mello was briefly filled with disgust that he shared yet another quality with Beyond Birthday. He pushed through this in order to process exactly what this new piece of information meant.

"But he can't have a death note," Mello argued sensibly.

"No," L agreed. "If he did he wouldn't bother killing people on the day they're meant to die. If I could, I'd like to meditate on this more, but we need to find Raito now."

"The tracker isn't working," Mello reminded him. "Do you have any ideas where B is hiding."

"B's trying to spite me one last time," L said to himself, ignoring Mello's question. "He only does this because he knows he can't beat me. No matter the circumstance, he will never win the game."

"So?"

"He's trying to _spite_ me," L repeated. "Not _undo_ me."

"Oh." The gears began to click inside Mello's head.

"He's losing his touch—no, he lost his touch while incarcerated." L dove back to his laptop. "Originally I thought that B destroyed Raito's watch when he attacked him, but what if it was only damaged in the struggle."

He furiously pressed a series of keys.

"What are you doing?" Mello couldn't help but ask.

"Rebooting the device." A confident smile broke across L's face and he spun the computer around for Mello to see. "Found him."

* * *

Raito was wrenched from his numbing unconsciousness by an acute and agonizing pain. His eyes first met the rabid gaze of Beyond Birthday before jumping to his blood soaked pointer finger. The knife was a cold burn against this severed skin. Looking at his separated nail made bile rise in his throat. He wanted to pull his hand away from the maniac, but knew this would only hurt more.

In less than a second and with the smallest movement of his wrist, Beyond Birthday had completely removed Raito's finger nail. Raito heard a loud cry, and vaguely registered that it was coming from his own lips. Instinct propelled him away from the now grinning murderer. But, with what seemed like no effort, Beyond shoved him to the ground again.

The cement floor felt like ice against his bare back, but was nothing compared to the stinging spot where his nail used to be. He slowly contracted his palm into a fist, daring to put pressure on the wound in an attempt to slow its bleeding. Only now did Raito realize that Beyond had removed his shirt. Even through his pain, Raito still found enough pride in him to feel violated by this gesture.

Defilement quickly turned to trepidation, as he realized that Beyond was not eyeing his chest or abdomen. Instead the killer's gaze traveled up and down Raito's recently stitched shoulder. His mind recalled how much the stab wound had hurt the night he and Misa were jumped, and was not soothed by the detail that this attack had been quick and precise. That man's goal had been to injure him, not to cause him extra pain. He didn't doubt that Beyond was currently conjuring how he would make every inch of Raito's shoulder scream in agony.

"Why are you doing this?" The question flew from Raito's mouth in a poor attempt to stall the man. Beyond looked at his face with curiosity, Raito used this opportunity to elaborate. "This isn't going to benefit you at all. You must know that."

Maybe he could keep Beyond talking until… Until what? L bursted in a rescued him? Raito subtly glanced to his cracked watch. It was likely that the tracking device hidden inside of it was damaged. And, even if L could find him, the detective couldn't risk coming himself. Raito doubted that he would allow Mello to come either. If the two of them rushed in to save him, there was a high chance that Beyond would be able to kill them both.

If L and Mello died there was no point to any of this! Raito knew that L cared about him. He had known that before they kissed. Somehow the careful lens of responsibility that L had regarded the teen through had turned into something more than plutonic affection. Raito doubted that it was as potent as the burning desire he felt for the man, but that wasn't what he wanted. From the moment that he kissed L, he'd known that once the case ended so would whatever was between them. Now it seemed that Raito wouldn't be around to mourn this ending.

By now L must know that Beyond had him, and that Raito's minutes were numbered. Raito was _supposed_ to die, and they had been foolish thinking that they could prevent it. L couldn't risk his own life for someone that was already doomed. He couldn't give Beyond Birthday the opportunity to win. As the world's best detective, he wasn't allowed to make that sacrifice.

Raito was pulled back to focus when Beyond placed the tip of the knife at the end of the scar on Raito's shoulder. He forced his face not to wince in anticipation, but could feel himself twitch. His heart sped up on it's own accord. The smile on his attacker's lips darkened.

"And how does following him benefit you?" Beyond spoke for the first time in a low but oddly gentle voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Raito quickly learned that this was the wrong answer, for instead of speaking Beyond pressed down on the knife. Raito sucked in a harsh breath as the blade ever so slowly broke through his skin.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Beyond smirked. "I'm surprised that he's told you who I am. Tell me, did it give you second thoughts to know of those who fell before you?"

 _He thinks I'm Mello._ Raito realized. _Or, at least, he thinks I'm L's successor._

Raito decided against correcting the madman. It was unlikely that Beyond would believe him, and even if he did he'd still want Raito dead. If Raito pretended that he was L's successor, Beyond would not know to go after Mello. This would keep the blonde out of harms way in time for L to catch him.

"I asked you a question," Beyond dug the knife deeper into Raito. An excruciating agony boiled in him.

"No," Raito blurted.

"You must think you're too smart to descend into madness," Beyond chuckled.

"No, that's not it," Raito choked out with a defiant—and entirely forced—smirk. "I'm too _loyal_ to end up like you."

Raito laced these words with as much malice as he could. Beyond was going to torture him no matter what he said. He was going to die that night no matter what happened. If Raito had to loose his life, he was not going to throw away any more of his pride.

Beyond's smirk thinned into a sneer. He slowly dragged the knife along the healed wound, opening the now throbbing and bleeding scar.

"He must have not told you about A," his voice was now heavy and almost human.

"No," Raito fought to keep his own tone steady.

"A was L's first successor," Beyond explained as he continued the sever Raito's flesh. "I doubt L will ever find another more dedicated. Poor, driven, intelligent A."

A frigid laugh escaped Beyond's throat. Raito tensed in order to repress his shudder. He didn't bother asking what happened to the person Beyond was talking about. He feared that if he spoke again his voice would betray the nauseating weakness his body was diverging into.

"A was bright, but he wasn't strong," Beyond continued, this time his voice was close to remorseful. "He couldn't handle the life you've pledged your _loyalty_ to."

In a swift motion, Beyond sliced through the remaining half of Raito's scar. Raito convulsed in torment. Beyond laughed at he wrenched the knife out of Raito's blood coated shoulder.

When Raito shifted he could feel the piece of the death note and pen that had not been removed from his pocket. If he moved fast enough, maybe he could retrieve it. Writing the name Beyond Birthday shouldn't take more than five seconds, but Raito was not one hundred percent certain that this was the man's real name. If it wasn't or if he failed to write the entirety, Beyond would want an explanation. Raito would refuse to talk, but he couldn't risk Beyond discovering what the paper was on his own. Even a single page of the death note was too much power for this murderer to have.

Beyond lightly trailed the tip of the knife down Raito's chest, leaving a trail of blood from the wounds he had already inflicted. He stopped at his abdomen. His smirk was back in place, but this time Raito could tell it was forced. The subject of A had affected Beyond more than Raito thought was possible for such a sociopath.

"L ended A's life and destroyed mine." For a short moment the crazed look in Beyond's eyes had diminished. "Are you sure he's worth your loyalty?"

Raito summoned all that was left of his the dwindling strength and compacted it into the most hating glare that he had ever given.

"Yes," he held Beyond's eyes in his as he spat the answer. "He's more than worth it."

Without a word, Beyond sunk the blade into the boy's skin.

* * *

L ignored the burn in his lungs at how short of breath he was. Not having the time to find a quicker mode of transportation, he and Mello had ran the distance to the motel that Raito's tracker pointed them to. Upon arriving L's suppositions that the motel was run down and out of business were confirmed. Beyond wouldn't bring the prey he had been working so hard to ensnare to a place where there was a chance he would be interrupted.

That being said, the building wasn't very far from the rest of the town. L was sure the Beyond enjoyed the sadistic pleasure of hearing the screams of his victims. In order to make himself as safe as possible while indulging in this, Beyond would choose the most sound proof area of the house to torture Raito.

They were in the basement.

"Gun out," L shortly instructed Mello.

"Don't have to tell me twice," the blonde anxiously muttered as he pulled the weapon from his vest pocket.

L did the same, cocking the weapon in case he only had the chance to fire it when it was needed. L was nearly certain that he would have to shoot B. This did not mean that he intended to kill his former successor. His goal was to wound B and get Raito away from him. A bullet to the shoulder or leg would be enough to subdue B in order for L to arrest him. This time he'd make sure that, insane or not, Beyond was sent to a prison with maximum security.

L directed his attention to Mello to explain how they would have to enter the building and that Mello was not to use the weapon unless he absolutely had to. Before he could part his lips the speak Mello's face contorted into a furious expression, and he darted past L to something standing not far behind him. L turned around just in time to watch Mello launch his fist at a short boy with bright red hair.

 _This must be Matt._ He concluded before rushing to pull Mello off of the boy. He removed the gun from that hand that had not collided with Matt's face, before Mello tried to shoot the redhead or in the least hit him with the blunt of the gun. L shoved the blonde's weapon and well as his own into his pants pockets in order to deal with the situation.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Mello screamed at Matt.

"Mello, calm down," L ordered, letting his lack of patients show in his voice.

"Yeah, calm down," Matt staggered backwards and away from Mello. His hand cover his left eye, where's fist had collided with his face. L held Mello back by the shoulders. He inwardly groaned. He did not have time for this.

"You're L," Matt stammered, gapping at him in disbelief.

"If you want to knock him out, you may do so as long as you make it quick and not unnecessarily violent," L reluctantly released his hold on Mello.

"Stop! I'm on your side!" Matt frantically shouted, throwing his arms in front of his face in an attempt to shield himself from Mello.

"Don't lie to me, Mail Jeevas" Mello spat at him.

"How do you know that name?" L watched the boy fight to regain composure over his astonishment.

"You've been giving information to Beyond Birthday since we met," Mello's voice nearly broke as he shouted this.

Matt lowered his arms, and look intensely at Mello. L watch his successor hesitate, not punching the boy as he had intended to. Mello's hands were balled into fists, but they only shook at his side. It was then that L realized why Mello had trusted this boy so blindly.

Matt laughed.

* * *

Raito was fading. In between the spurts of burning pain, he could feel his life slipping from his grasp. His thoughts pulled him away from the dark room as the man hovering above him slowly dissected him. Instead Raito wondered what L's face would look like when he found his body. He imagined what the detective would tell his family. Losing him was something that he knew his parents would not recover from. He felt a twinge of guilt as he reminded himself that whatever sorrow his family would feel was his own fault. Sayu would endure, he had to believe this. She would probably hate him for leaving her, for putting himself in a station where he could leave her. He supposed he deserved that much.

Beyond roughly pulled the knife away from Raito's chest. Raito exhaled sharply, his eyes trailed down to the recent gash. Beyond laughed as Raito discovered that he had carved the letter "L" into his torso.

"This is what loyalty gets you," the madman hissed into Raito's ear, using the word against him once more.

That was when he heard the door being flung open. Raito hand't realized that there was an entrance across the room until that moment. Beyond Birthday dropped his weapon with an audible gasp, and Raito watched his eyes widen in surprise. Beyond Birthday snatched the knife back and shakily rose to his feet. Raito took this chance to push himself into a sitting position and turn toward the door.

Standing across the room from the was L, Mello, and Matt. Raito briefly wondered why the boy that they had earlier deduced was Beyond's spy was currently with his two rescuers. Raito pushed these thoughts away, trusting that L had a reason. For a moment he was angry that L was there, L was not supposed to be risking his life on Raito's behalf. Even so, he couldn't deny the relief that washed over him when his eyes met the detective.

Relief was quickly replaced with motivation. Beyond Birthday was frozen in the shock of seeing L, and this meant that he could not stop or may not notice Raito pull the piece of the death note from his pocket. Ignoring how his agonized muscles protested against sudden movement, Raito ripped the page from his pocket. He didn't bother to uncap the pen, and instead touched the wound on his chest. His finger came away with a thin coat of scarlet.

His eyes darted away from his hands and to Mello. The blonde's gaze locked onto his after darting to the murder behind him for less than a second. Mello understood.

"Beyond Birthday," he stated, confirming what Raito needed to know.

Raito touched his blood covered finger to the page and now rested on his knee. Instead of quickly scrawling the name, his sight rebelled against him and found L once again. The expression of poorly concealed horror on the face of the man he loved was enough to give Raito pause. He couldn't help but wonder what L must see as he looked at him, face distorted in fear driven determination and back hunched over the world's most deadly murder weapon.

In that second, Raito realized that the second he took a life, even if it was someone as horrible and death deserving as Beyond Birthday, he would loose L forever. He realized that, even if he were to die then and there, even if they had no chance at making it together in the real world, Raito would never knowingly do anything that resulted in this. Never had he thought that he'd feel this way about anyone (spare maybe his little sister), but Raito would rather loose his life than loose L.

Only when he felt himself being yanked to his feet by stiff hands behind him, did Raito register that he had just missed his window of opportunity. The page from the death note floated harmlessly to his feet and out of reach. He felt the cool mettle of the knife still wet from his blood press against his throat.

"Let him go, B," L's voice was dark and threatening.

Raito watched the detective swiftly pull a gun from his pocket and point it at Beyond. He didn't doubt that L could shoot the man without killing him, but the fact that Raito was blocking the majority of his target made the task nearly impossible. Beyond couldn't be more than an inch taller than Raito. This didn't give L's shot much of an advantage. Even if L was able to pull of this feat, Raito knew that Beyond's reflex would be to slit his throat. The flick of his wrist that it would take Beyond to take Raito's life was as small of a maneuver as it had taken to remove his finger nail.

"Do it," Raito heard his own horse voice utter. His eyes locked onto L's. "I'm supposed to die tonight anyway."

He felt the pressure on his throat lessen, but was unsure what this meant. In a swift motion, Mello reached into L's jeans pocket and produced a second gun. Raito watched the blonde aim for the shot that L would refuse to take. As Mello pulled the trigger, Matt grabbed his arm and forced it upwards. The loud blast of the gun sung through the small space, but the only harm the bullet did was to the ceiling.

Raito took the paralyzed moment that the shot provided to shove Beyond's already less steady arm away from his neck. He tried to run to L, but only made it three steps before Beyond grabbed a fist full of his hair and shoved the knife into his back.

He didn't scream the way he had when Beyond had tortured him minutes before, instead not a sound escaped his lips. His breath tightened when Beyond wrenched the blade out of him. Raito knew that he would push it in again while he still could. Beyond would end Raito's life before L's shot sealed his. A soft fright filled him as he realized that this fleeting moment was his last.

Raito's gaze met L's wide eyes once again, a different horror filled them now. He felt almost as if the seconds were slowing around him, but instead of seeing his life flash before his eyes all he saw was L. A sad smile pressed onto his lips, and he was glad he was able to muster one. He didn't want the last thing L saw from him to be an expression of pain.

"You're still worth it," he mouthed.

L's expression of sorrow was the last thing that he saw before closing his eyes in preparation for the next stab.

He did not expect to feel Beyond's hold on him relinquishing or hear the madman stager backwards. Instinct forced his legs to move, carrying him away from Beyond and to the three at the doorway. L met him halfway, pulling Raito into his arms in an attempt to both comfort him and shield him from Beyond.

Raito's gaze whipped to the murder just in time to watch him collapse, his hands clutching the spot of his chest above his heart.

The next few second were ones of complete confusion on Raito's part. He watched in a daze as Mello and Matt were cleared out of the doorway by what Raito could only describe as a SWAT Team. These armed men in black uniforms filled the room with a hurried purpose.

"Thank you Mail." Raito heard L mutter.

He was about to ask what this meant, but his attention was snagged by a pile of white ash at the conner or the room. Next to it was a black notebook. Realization as to what this was dawned on him, but before he could voice it to L or Mello he felt a wave on weakness pass over him.

Unable to utter a word, he collapsed into L's arms, and let the world around him go black.

* * *

 **Dear Raito-kun, I would like to take this time to apologize for embarrassing you, stabbing you, humiliating you, accusing you of murder, torturing you, and almost killing you in this story. Sorry love… —Piper**

 **There will be one more chapter after this to clear up and explain all that just went down. Thanks for reading! Reviews make the world go round!**

 **Callicanios, I supposed I deserve to be shook after that one (and after this chap as well).**

 **Cyinmas, yes, the more you try to change your fate the more you cement it (that's what drives me crazy when I read Greek myths)!**

 **Wizard-Party-Forever, I'm definitely guilty of the cliffhangers. *evil laugh***

 **Blazedoll, thanks for the review!**

 **Guest, I actually considered possibly killing Mello or Matt. However, with the shinigami eyes it was impossible to kill Mattie, and I didn't want to off Mels just for the sake of adding to the body count.**

 **Corliss, thanks for the review!**


	12. Chapter Twelve

The first thing that Raito was aware of was a cool, soft hand clutching his uninjured one. It took less than a second for the memories of the events before he past out to settle in his head. He let himself slowly come to his senses, not surprise when he opened his eyes to a hospital room. Sitting in the chair next to his bed was L.

"How are you feeling?" A tired smile was pressed on L's lips.

"I don't know," Raito wanted to laugh but wasn't sure how. "My shoulder hurts."

"You might need more medication," L started to stand, but Raito tightened his grip on the detective's hand.

"No, it's okay," he told him quickly. "Can you stay?"

"Raito I've been sitting here for the past ten hours," L drawled with a tiny smile. "I won't leave until you tell me to."

"Thanks." This time Raito did laugh (he did his best to ignore the pain this put his bruised ribs through, but he was sure L notice). "I was asleep for ten hours?"

"I told the others I'd let them know when you were awake," L added, not answering Raito's question.

"Others?" Raito asked, groggily.

"Mello, Matt, and Misa," L said. "They left after the first hour."

"About Matt—" Raito tried to ask.

"He can answer any questions you have for him himself," L smoothly cut him off. "I'll go call them, if you can bare my absence for just a moment."

Raito rolled his eyes, but his smiled died quickly.

"L," he spoke before the detective could leave the room. "Beyond Birthday is dead, isn't he?"

"Yes," L's face fell to a serious expression.

Raito didn't know what to say (an apology didn't exactly seem appropriate), so he simply nodded and let L leave the room. L returned in less than a minute. Neither of them spoke until the others arrived, but L took Raito's hand in his again. Raito closed his eyes and tried to imagine what he should say to L the next moment that they were alone. Without realizing it, he squeezed L's delicate fingers. L gave his hand a light squeeze back.

"Raito!" Misa exclaimed as she threw the door open. Mello and Matt followed behind her with amused looks on their faces.

"Hello, Misa," Raito greeted her.

"I'm mad at you," she crossed her arms and huffed. Her initially relieved expression turned to a pouting one.

"I'm sorry," Raito held her eyes.

"Misa knows. She's just happy Raito's alright," she plopped down in the chair next to L. Mello and Matt followed her lead and sat down in the chairs at the other side of the bed. "Ryuzaki said he'd tell us what happened once Raito woke up."

"He probably didn't realize you'd be out cold for ten hours," Mello added with a smirk. "The same way we didn't realize that he wouldn't talk to anyone until you opened your eyes."

"Don't make fun of him for being worried," Misa scolded. "I think it's sweet."

"Yeah," Raito murmured, not letting go of L's hand. "It's sweet."

"Beyond Birthday died of a heart attack seconds before he would have ended Raito's life," L announced, bringing the conversation back to the events of the night before. He did not meet Raito, or anyone else in the room's, gaze.

"I didn't write his name," Raito felt the need to state, despite the fact that everyone had witnessed him throw away his shot to do so.

"Of course you didn't," L dismissed. "We found another death note and a pile of white sand in the conner of the room. Mello, you still have the note?"

Mello produced a black notebook from the bag he had been carrying.

"It was Rem's," Misa spoke now. Her voice and expression resembled the state they had been in when she first told Raito about the death note. "When you ran out I didn't know what to do. I was crying and begged her to follow you."

"I don't understand," Raito voiced. "Gelus saved you because he was in love with you, but I'm sure Rem was indifferent to me. Why would she give her life to save mine?"

"You don't get it!" A choked sob escaped Misa's throat, and she buried her face in her hands.

L, who was still sitting next to her, froze as if unsure what to do with the crying girl. Hesitantly, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a tentative pat. Were the situation any different, Raito would have laughed at the poor man's awkwardness.

"Rem _was_ indifferent to you," Misa said once she had composed herself. "She followed you because I asked her to."

"The only way for Rem to help you was to seal her own death," L murmured.

Misa nodded.

"Rem loved me," she whispered.

"And you loved the shinigami back?" Mello sounded more appalled than curious.

"Of course not," she shot him an irritated look. "But I know how much it hurts to love someone who will never see you that way."

Raito knew that she was talking about him.

"Misa, I—"

"Don't say you're sorry," she stopped him. "I don't want an apology."

"Okay," he nodded.

"Well," she paused to think. "Maybe you could apologize for kissing me. Yeah, I'd take an apology for that."

"You kissed her?" Matt asked.

"Only to distract me so he could run out of my apartment," Misa huffed.

"Raito-kun can be very manipulative," L sounded oddly pleased as he said this. Raito wondered if he had initially been jealous, and tried not to dwell on the fact that he liked that thought.

"I'm sorry," Raito did his best to put an end to the conversation.

"I forgive you," Misa smiled at him.

"What are you going to do with the death notes?" Mello spoked now, his question directed at L.

"Burn them," L answered. "And I'd like any extra pages that are hidden in your apartment, Amane-san."

"I'll get that to you," Misa agreed.

"I think we've more than proven that this is too dangerous of a weapon for any of us to keep," L stated.

"I have a quick question," Raito spoke up before L directed any more guilt to him. "Why is Matt here?"

"About that," Mello chuckled.

"It seems my deductions as to the identity of Beyond's spy have been wrong a second time," L looked more embarrassed than Raito had ever seen him.

"You don't say," Raito chose to see the humor in this now that the ordeal was over.

"Don't be too hard on him," Matt interjected. "He was partly right. I am a spy. I work for Wammy. Well, I was supposed to attend Wammy's House, but after going over my record and IQ I was asked to spy on Mello instead."

"Watari knew that Mello would do something to endanger himself and choose not to report this to Roger," L explained to Raito. "It was Mail's job to inform Roger on what Mello was actually doing, and to do his best to prevent Mello from getting hurt."

"Matt called that SWAT Team last night," Mello added.

"I just asked for reinforcements the night before," Matt corrected. "I didn't know they'd go to that extreme. Not that it was any help."

"Had Mail not be assigned to spying on Mello, right now he would be training to be my third successor," L stated, a slight degree of pride in his voice.

"Second," Mello corrected.

"Mello," L gave him a sharp, but forgiving expression. "Considering your big mistake was to give information to the boy tasked with keeping an eye on you, I am not going to hold anything against you."

"But what if Matt was what we thought he was," Mello argued.

"We're lucky he was not," L sighed. "Regardless I'm sure you have learned from this ordeal, and it's time for you to move on with your knowledge and stop dwelling on one flaw."

"You should be angry with me not yourself," Matt told the blonde, an oddly shy expression on his face. "I'm sorry that I lied to you for so long."

"It was your job," Mello dismissed.

"I still feel bad," Matt said sheepishly. "And I'm still asking your forgiveness."

"Well," Mello drew out the word. "I'm not upset, but I have a few ideas on how you can make it up to me."

"Shoot," Matt agreed.

"You now work for me indefinitely," Mello crossed his arms. "That means whenever I need a tech person—or anything for that matter—you have to help."

"Sure," Matt laughed. "I guess that's fair."

"So he basically becomes your servant?" Raito asked.

"Well…" Mello grinned.

"You guys are so weird," Misa muttered.

"I agree," Raito told her.

"I think it's cute," L murmured with a goofy smile.

 _I think_ that's _cute,_ Raito couldn't help thinking.

"And I supposed your reasoning is that with Matt's help you will be able to exceed Near?" L dryly asked Mello.

"Pretty much," the blonde shrugged.

"L, if Matt wasn't Beyond Birthday's spy then who was?" Raito brought the conversation back to the case that had just closed.

"One of the new kids at the orphanage," Matt answered. "She was reading the reports Mello sent to Roger and explaining them to Beyond. They only found her yesterday, but it didn't take much for her to confess. She said that Beyond promised to pay her off so she could run away from Wammy's House. I almost feel bad for her."

"I don't. Apparently Linda caught her sneaking into Roger's office to hack his computer, when she was trying to do the same," Mello mused. "That used to be my trick. It's a good thing I taught it to her."

"Beyond had the shinigami eyes," L informed Raito. "I don't know how he got them. Now that he's dead I don't think I'll ever know, but that was how he knew when to attack you and Misa and when to kidnap you."

"That means that every time he killed someone they he knew that they were going to die that day anyway," Mello pointed out. "That almost justifies what he did."

"I'm sure that's how Beyond saw it," L's voice was back to the monotone. "But I don't think that's what was really happening. I think that Beyond was able to kill the victims not because they were going to die anyway, but because he was always supposed to kill them."

"That would explain the Lowood deaths," Raito concluded. "It would be odd for that many of the students to die any other way."

"Yes," L nodded. "I may not like this reasoning, but according to the death note, our fate is predetermined. If that is true, then B's actions should have been as well. He may have had the eyes but he didn't have a note, so he couldn't have changed what he was always supposed to do. Had Rem not intervened, Raito would not be alive right now."

"How much do I have left now?" Raito asked Mello, knowing that Rem's lifespan had been added to his empty one.

"I don't want to tell you," Mello answered with a solemn expression. "It's better if none of you know how much longer you have to live."

"I doubt that any of us will understand the toll that seeing death has taken on Mello," L said sadly. "Despite how much he tried to hide it."

"It definitely sucks," Mello agreed.

"If it's possible, I think you should give them up before we burn the death notes," L suggested.

"You're probably right," Mello complied. "Although, I did like being able to see everyone's real names."

"It's better that you don't know Near's," L seemed understand what Mello was hinting at.

"Whatever," the blonde rolled his eyes.

"You know," Misa spoke up. "A lot of what you guys were talking about doesn't make any sense to me. So, I think I'm just going to leave now. Raito, I'm glad you're okay."

"Goodbye Misa." Raito knew that, despite her feeling for him, there was little chance that she'd fully forgive him for his actions that night.

"We'll walk you home," Matt rose from his seat.

"Yeah," Mello nodded. "For protection."

"Thanks," Misa giggled and lead the way out of the room.

"One more thing, Matt," Mello said as the three made their way out of the room. "is your hair really natural or was that another lie?"

"I'm not sure I want to tell you," Matt smirked at the blonde.

Raito laughed as he watched the door close behind them, noticing that Matt and Mello's hands were interlocked as they walked away. He couldn't help but smile at this. After Mello's declaration, he didn't doubt that it would only be a matter for time before the two of them voice their feels for each other. Only now did he realize that maybe they didn't have to. Maybe Mello and Matt understood each other that well.

Raito was then suddenly aware that he was alone with L once again. Painfully, he wondered if this was the last time that they would be alone. Was this the last time that he'd see L? The case was closed, after all, and L would need to be moving on soon. There was so much that Raito needed to say to the detective, but he was clueless as to how to put it into words.

"Raito-kun," L's smooth voice broke through his thoughts.

"Yes." Raito looked up at L, trying to take in every detail of the man's beautiful face while he still could.

"It's my fault you were almost killed last night," L told him. Raito noticed that the detective's gaze was fixed on the bandages covering Raito's torso. The bandages that covered the letter L that Beyond had carved into his skin. "I'm sorry for putting you in so much danger."

"Don't apologize," Raito scolded sharply. His words brought L's eyes away from the wound and to his face. "It's my own fault that Beyond kidnapped me, you tried to keep me out of harms way but it didn't listen. Besides, I meant it when I said that you're worth everything that happened."

"Raito-kun—"

"No, it's my turn to talk now," Raito placed a finger on L's lips to silence him. "Before I met you I was bored out of my mind. My life was so dull it was painful to get through each day. I just kept waiting for something to happened, for some sort of achievement that would make me feel alive for one second. Needless to say everything fell flat to my expectations."

"I didn't realize Raito-kun was so depressed," L drawled, he gently removed Raito's hand from covering his mouth.

"Then I started working with you," Raito continued. "L, one conversation with you made me feel more alive than seventeen years of living ever has."

"You were going to kill Beyond last night," L remembered. "You stopped when you looked at me."

"Yes," Raito wasn't sure what else to say.

"You shouldn't have," L's words surprised him. "You could have saved yourself."

"It wouldn't matter," Raito dismissed. "I know you couldn't accept me if I was a murderer."

"Stop," L's tone was harsh now, his eyes still bared the look that it had when he was looking at Raito's wound. "I didn't want you to use the death note because I didn't want you to live with blood on your hands. I was upset that I was the one who drove you to that action. Raito, if you killed Beyond in selfdefense I would not think any less of you."

L paused his speech to bring Raito's hand to his lips. Gently he kissed Raito's knuckles. Ratio savored the feeling of L's soft lips on his skin.

"I haven't felt the boredom that you endured since I was very young," L admitted softly. "But I haven't felt human for a long time. Talking to you—being with you—made me feel human. Thank you."

"I'm in love with you," Raito confessed.

"I don't deserve your affections," L whispered.

"Yes you do," Raito told him.

"Does Raito still wish to become a private detective after everything that happened through this case?" L's question felt abrupt and off topic.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I gave up on that dream," Raito feigned annoyance.

"I'd like an answer," L gently brushed Raito's bangs out of his face as he spoke. Raito observed that the guilt was finally gone from his eyes.

"Yes," Raito answered. "If I could, that is still something I'd want to do."

"Even after nearly dying?" L asked.

"Living is worth dying," Raito answered.

"Then I have a proposition for you," L stated. "I work well when I have someone by my side, and Raito-kun is the first that I've met to rival my own intelligence. If you will accept, I'd greatly appreciate it if Raito would come work with me."

"You're joking," Raito gaped. "You realize I haven't even finished high school yet?"

"If Raito-kun would like you continue his education, I have no qualms with him doing so," L smiled. "I can wait for you. Or you could always live and work with me on the side."

"By living with you," Raito could feel a blush darkening his cheeks. "Do you mean…?"

"Would you like that?" L asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Raito exclaimed a little to quickly. "Yes, I would love that."

"Good," L's goofy smile was back.

Raito took hold of L's shirt and pulled the detective to him. Their lips crushed together, and he moved his arms so that they were now encircling L. He felt the detective's hands find his hair as they deepened their kiss.

"I think I love you," L whispered as he pulled away from Raito.

"L," Raito laughed. "How am I going to explain this to my family?"

"That I will leave in your hands," L decided.

"Coward," Raito accused with a grin.

"Just don't tell them how old I am," L added.

"Right," Raito smirked, and pulled L to him again so that their lips were almost touching. "Because that would make you look like a pervert."

"Oh, shut up," L breathed.

"Make me," Raito challenged.

They kissed again. Raito let everything that had happened the night before fade from his mind. Right now everything was right, and no murders or death notes or any type of danger was going to ruin this. Right now the game was finally over, and, for the moment, everything was perfect.

* * *

 **Well, that's it! This was the longest fic that I've written so far, and it was definitely something new for me style wise. I appreciate those of you who've read and reviewed. It's helpful for me to hear what people like and what people don't like about the portrayal of the plot and characters.**

 **'Til we meet again, Piper**

 **Callicanios, I knew that the ended was a little unclear on wether or not he lived, but I just don't have the heart to kill him off. I'll take the hugs and the swats for the ending. Thanks for all of your reviews!**

 **bluxpudding, I couldn't go through with making Matt bad, but I will admit I enjoyed making all of you think that he was. Thanks for the review!**

 **Rice Waffles, I get what your saying about the characterization (not that it makes a difference, but they kissed three times). I feel that most of my explanation on L's and Raito's actions were answered in this chapter, but I understand that there are still going to be readers who felt that he was being to harsh. Honestly, for this fic I'd prefer L coming off as unlikeable than too soft or emotional and vise versa for Ratio. Thank you for voicing your read on this, I'll consider these things more in the next fic I write.**

 **Ryuko, hopefully your questions were answered in the chapter. Matt laughed because he didn't realize that Mello thought he was spying for Beyond and found the thought of him being capable of it funny instead of offensive. This was the most vague and evil way I could portray his reaction to this information. Thanks for the review.**

 **NyanCatGirl13, they're sort of together. Thanks for the review.**

 **Guest, Rem saved Raito because if she didn't Misa would be distraught and blame herself. Thanks for the review.**

 **Kiii, thanks for all of your reviews, I'm glad you liked the story!**


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